Problem:
The organization is using Cassandra 4.0.x in its Production environment and requires tracking login and logout details from the Cassandra Audit logs. However, the Audit logs only record LOGIN_SUCCESS, LOGIN_ERROR, and UNAUTHORIZED_ATTEMPT events, with no mention of LOGOUT events. The organization seeks clarification on mechanisms for capturing logout-related entries.
Solution:
Cassandra does not inherently track LOGOUT events. To address this, the organization can implement either an application-level logout functionality or develop a custom logger within the Cassandra framework to record user logout events. These solutions require modifying the client to generate LOGOUT events and capturing and logging these events on the server-side.
For future considerations, there is no direct information on whether logout-related details will be included in future versions or subversions of Cassandra’s audit logs. Regarding LDAP integration, Cassandra 4.2 does not support LDAP out of the box, but third-party plugins and tools exist (Cassandra LDAP Plugin). However, these come with risks, and careful evaluation is advised. DataStax Enterprise version supports LDAP out of the box, but it is not free and open-source. DataStax Security Overview
Conclusion:
In summary, while Cassandra lacks native support for LOGOUT event tracking and LDAP integration in its open-source version, organizations have options to implement custom solutions and consider enterprise versions for advanced features. Careful evaluation of third-party plugins and tools is recommended, and organizations should weigh the benefits and risks before making decisions about implementing custom solutions or adopting enterprise versions.