A MongoDB shell script that adds data redaction capabilities to the mongo shell, providing the option to automatically remove potentially sensitive information from documents that are read out of MongoDB, while retaining the shape (including field names) of the data.
Note: Data redaction works entirely in the shell at the 'presentation' layer. The data read out of MongoDB and transmitted on the wire to the client is not redacted in any way.
There are two ways to load the script: one-time (if you just want to test how it works) and permanent (for frequent use).
Invoke the mongo shell using this command:
mongo <basepath>/mongo-redact.js --shell
It will first load mongo-redact.js and then open the shell as usual. Replace the <basepath> part with the actual path where the mongo-redact.js file is located.
You can also add the following line to your ~/.mongorc.js file to always load the file on shell startup (unless started with --norc):
load('<basepath>/mongo-redact.js')Replace the <basepath> part with the actual path where the mongo-redact.js file is located.
Three levels of redaction are provided:
- 0 - Redaction is OFF. Data read from MongoDB is displayed normally. This is the default level (when the script is first loaded).
- 1 - Redaction is ON. The shape of the data is retained by performing the following transformations to each document:
- Strings are replaced by their MD5 hash
- Values for all other data types (numerical, date, etc.) are left unchanged
- 2 - Redaction is ON. Most aggressive redaction. No values are left unredacted, however the document schema, including type information, is preserved. The following transformations are performed to each document:
- 32-bit Ints are replaced by 999
- 64-bit Ints are replaced by 999999
- Floats are replaced by 999.123
- Strings are replaced by "XXXXXXXX", where the length of the replacement string is the same as the length of the original string
- Values for all other data types (e.g. date) are left unchanged
The script overrides the next() method on the DBQuery and DBCommandCursor objects to provide automatic redaction according to the currently configured redaction level, so in typical usage only the Redact.setRedactionLevel() function (described below) is needed. Automatic redaction is provided for find() and (for MongoDB 2.6+) aggregate().
The following functions are available:
Redact.setRedactionLevel(<level>)Set the (global) redaction level for all queries issued in this shell session.
Redact.getRedactionLevel()Return the current global redaction level.
The script extends the DBQuery object with a new method: redact(). On a collection called foo, run it with:
db.foo.find().redact()This will override the globally configured redaction level on per-query basis, displaying results of the query at redaction level 1.
db.foo.find().redact(<level>)This will override the globally configured redaction level on per-query basis, displaying results of the query at the specified redaction level.
Redact.redactValue(<value>, <level>)Redact a value and return it. The <value> parameter is the input value to be redacted and the (optional) <level> parameter specifies the redaction level (default: 1).
Redact.redactArray(<array>, <level>)Redact an array and return it. The <array> parameter is the input array to be redacted and the (optional) <level> parameter specifies the redaction level (default: 1).
Redact.redactDoc(<doc>, <level>)Redact a document and return it. The <doc> parameter is the input document to be redacted and the (optional) <level> parameter specifies the redaction level (default: 1).
This software is not supported by MongoDB, Inc. under any of their commercial support subscriptions or otherwise. Any usage of mongo-redact is at your own risk. Bug reports, feature requests and questions can be posted in the Issues section here on GitHub.