Security review

Security Review Skill

This skill ensures all code follows security best practices and identifies potential vulnerabilities.

When to use

• Implementing authentication or authorization
• Handling user input or file uploads
• Creating new API endpoints
• Working with secrets or credentials
• Implementing payment features
• Storing or transmitting sensitive data
• Integrating third-party APIs

Security Checklist

1. Secrets Management

FAIL: NEVER Do This

const apiKey = "sk-proj-xxxxx"  // Hardcoded secret
const dbPassword = "password123" // In source code

PASS: ALWAYS Do This

const apiKey = process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY
const dbUrl = process.env.DATABASE_URL

// Verify secrets exist
if (!apiKey) {
  throw new Error('OPENAI_API_KEY not configured')
}

Verification Steps

• No hardcoded API keys, tokens, or passwords
• All secrets in environment variables
• .env.local in .gitignore
• No secrets in git history
• Production secrets in hosting platform (Vercel, Railway)

2. Input Validation

Always Validate User Input

import { z } from 'zod'

// Define validation schema
const CreateUserSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  name: z.string().min(1).max(100),
  age: z.number().int().min(0).max(150)
})

// Validate before processing
export async function createUser(input: unknown) {
  try {
    const validated = CreateUserSchema.parse(input)
    return await db.users.create(validated)
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof z.ZodError) {
      return { success: false, errors: error.errors }
    }
    throw error
  }
}

File Upload Validation

function validateFileUpload(file: File) {
  // Size check (5MB max)
  const maxSize = 5 * 1024 * 1024
  if (file.size > maxSize) {
    throw new Error('File too large (max 5MB)')
  }

  // Type check
  const allowedTypes = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif']
  if (!allowedTypes.includes(file.type)) {
    throw new Error('Invalid file type')
  }

  // Extension check
  const allowedExtensions = ['.jpg', '.jpeg', '.png', '.gif']
  const extension = file.name.toLowerCase().match(/\.[^.]+$/)?.[0]
  if (!extension || !allowedExtensions.includes(extension)) {
    throw new Error('Invalid file extension')
  }

  return true
}

Verification Steps

• All user inputs validated with schemas
• File uploads restricted (size, type, extension)
• No direct use of user input in queries
• Whitelist validation (not blacklist)
• Error messages don't leak sensitive info

3. SQL Injection Prevention

FAIL: NEVER Concatenate SQL

// DANGEROUS - SQL Injection vulnerability
const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '${userEmail}'`
await db.query(query)

PASS: ALWAYS Use Parameterized Queries

// Safe - parameterized query
const { data } = await supabase
  .from('users')
  .select('*')
  .eq('email', userEmail)

// Or with raw SQL
await db.query(
  'SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = $1',
  [userEmail]
)

Verification Steps

• All database queries use parameterized queries
• No string concatenation in SQL
• ORM/query builder used correctly
• Supabase queries properly sanitized

4. Authentication & Authorization

JWT Token Handling

// FAIL: WRONG: localStorage (vulnerable to XSS)
localStorage.setItem('token', token)

// PASS: CORRECT: httpOnly cookies
res.setHeader('Set-Cookie',
  `token=${token}; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Strict; Max-Age=3600`)

Authorization Checks

export async function deleteUser(userId: string, requesterId: string) {
  // ALWAYS verify authorization first
  const requester = await db.users.findUnique({
    where: { id: requesterId }
  })

  if (requester.role !== 'admin') {
    return NextResponse.json(
      { error: 'Unauthorized' },
      { status: 403 }
    )
  }

  // Proceed with deletion
  await db.users.delete({ where: { id: userId } })
}

Row Level Security (Supabase)

-- Enable RLS on all tables
ALTER TABLE users ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

-- Users can only view their own data
CREATE POLICY "Users view own data"
  ON users FOR SELECT
  USING (auth.uid() = id);

-- Users can only update their own data
CREATE POLICY "Users update own data"
  ON users FOR UPDATE
  USING (auth.uid() = id);

Verification Steps

• Tokens stored in httpOnly cookies (not localStorage)
• Authorization checks before sensitive operations
• Row Level Security enabled in Supabase
• Role-based access control implemented
• Session management secure

5. XSS Prevention

Sanitize HTML

import DOMPurify from 'isomorphic-dompurify'

// ALWAYS sanitize user-provided HTML
function renderUserContent(html: string) {
  const clean = DOMPurify.sanitize(html, {
    ALLOWED_TAGS: ['b', 'i', 'em', 'strong', 'p'],
    ALLOWED_ATTR: []
  })
  return <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: clean }} />
}

Content Security Policy

Start strict and loosen only with a documented removal plan. Do not default to 'unsafe-inline' or 'unsafe-eval'; they neutralize much of CSP's protection and should be treated as temporary compatibility debt.

// next.config.js
const securityHeaders = [
  {
    key: 'Content-Security-Policy',
    value: `
      default-src 'self';
      base-uri 'self';
      object-src 'none';
      frame-ancestors 'none';
      script-src 'self';
      style-src 'self';
      img-src 'self' data: https:;
      font-src 'self';
      connect-src 'self' https://api.example.com;
    `.replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ').trim()
  }
]

Verification Steps

• User-provided HTML sanitized
• CSP headers configured
• No unvalidated dynamic content rendering
• React's built-in XSS protection used

6. CSRF Protection

CSRF Tokens

import { csrf } from '@/lib/csrf'

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const token = request.headers.get('X-CSRF-Token')

  if (!csrf.verify(token)) {
    return NextResponse.json(
      { error: 'Invalid CSRF token' },
      { status: 403 }
    )
  }

  // Process request
}

SameSite Cookies

res.setHeader('Set-Cookie',
  `session=${sessionId}; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Strict`)

Verification Steps

• CSRF tokens on state-changing operations
• SameSite=Strict on all cookies
• Double-submit cookie pattern implemented

7. Rate Limiting

API Rate Limiting

import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit'

const limiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100, // 100 requests per window
  message: 'Too many requests'
})

// Apply to routes
app.use('/api/', limiter)

Expensive Operations

// Aggressive rate limiting for searches
const searchLimiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 60 * 1000, // 1 minute
  max: 10, // 10 requests per minute
  message: 'Too many search requests'
})

app.use('/api/search', searchLimiter)

Verification Steps

• Rate limiting on all API endpoints
• Stricter limits on expensive operations
• IP-based rate limiting
• User-based rate limiting (authenticated)

8. Sensitive Data Exposure

Logging

// FAIL: WRONG: Logging sensitive data
console.log('User login:', { email, password })
console.log('Payment:', { cardNumber, cvv })

// PASS: CORRECT: Redact sensitive data
console.log('User login:', { email, userId })
console.log('Payment:', { last4: card.last4, userId })

Error Messages

// FAIL: WRONG: Exposing internal details
catch (error) {
  return NextResponse.json(
    { error: error.message, stack: error.stack },
    { status: 500 }
  )
}

// PASS: CORRECT: Generic error messages
catch (error) {
  console.error('Internal error:', error)
  return NextResponse.json(
    { error: 'An error occurred. Please try again.' },
    { status: 500 }
  )
}

Verification Steps

• No passwords, tokens, or secrets in logs
• Error messages generic for users
• Detailed errors only in server logs
• No stack traces exposed to users

9. Blockchain Security (Solana)

Wallet Verification

import { verify } from '@solana/web3.js'

async function verifyWalletOwnership(
  publicKey: string,
  signature: string,
  message: string
) {
  try {
    const isValid = verify(
      Buffer.from(message),
      Buffer.from(signature, 'base64'),
      Buffer.from(publicKey, 'base64')
    )
    return isValid
  } catch (error) {
    return false
  }
}

Transaction Verification

async function verifyTransaction(transaction: Transaction) {
  // Verify recipient
  if (transaction.to !== expectedRecipient) {
    throw new Error('Invalid recipient')
  }

  // Verify amount
  if (transaction.amount > maxAmount) {
    throw new Error('Amount exceeds limit')
  }

  // Verify user has sufficient balance
  const balance = await getBalance(transaction.from)
  if (balance < transaction.amount) {
    throw new Error('Insufficient balance')
  }

  return true
}

Verification Steps

• Wallet signatures verified
• Transaction details validated
• Balance checks before transactions
• No blind transaction signing

10. Dependency Security

Regular Updates

# Check for vulnerabilities
npm audit

# Fix automatically fixable issues
npm audit fix

# Update dependencies
npm update

# Check for outdated packages
npm outdated

Lock Files

# ALWAYS commit lock files
git add package-lock.json

# Use in CI/CD for reproducible builds
npm ci  # Instead of npm install

Verification Steps

• Dependencies up to date
• No known vulnerabilities (npm audit clean)
• Lock files committed
• Dependabot enabled on GitHub
• Regular security updates

Security Testing

Automated Security Tests

// Test authentication
test('requires authentication', async () => {
  const response = await fetch('/api/protected')
  expect(response.status).toBe(401)
})

// Test authorization
test('requires admin role', async () => {
  const response = await fetch('/api/admin', {
    headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${userToken}` }
  })
  expect(response.status).toBe(403)
})

// Test input validation
test('rejects invalid input', async () => {
  const response = await fetch('/api/users', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: JSON.stringify({ email: 'not-an-email' })
  })
  expect(response.status).toBe(400)
})

// Test rate limiting
test('enforces rate limits', async () => {
  const requests = Array(101).fill(null).map(() =>
    fetch('/api/endpoint')
  )

  const responses = await Promise.all(requests)
  const tooManyRequests = responses.filter(r => r.status === 429)

  expect(tooManyRequests.length).toBeGreaterThan(0)
})

Pre-Deployment Security Checklist

Before ANY production deployment:

• Secrets: No hardcoded secrets, all in env vars
• Input Validation: All user inputs validated
• SQL Injection: All queries parameterized
• XSS: User content sanitized
• CSRF: Protection enabled
• Authentication: Proper token handling
• Authorization: Role checks in place
• Rate Limiting: Enabled on all endpoints
• HTTPS: Enforced in production
• Security Headers: CSP, X-Frame-Options configured
• Error Handling: No sensitive data in errors
• Logging: No sensitive data logged
• Dependencies: Up to date, no vulnerabilities
• Row Level Security: Enabled in Supabase
• CORS: Properly configured
• File Uploads: Validated (size, type)
• Wallet Signatures: Verified (if blockchain)

Resources

• OWASP Top 10
• Next.js Security
• Supabase Security
• Web Security Academy

---

Remember: Security is not optional. One vulnerability can compromise the entire platform. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.

---

Security and Hardening (agent-skills)

Security and Hardening

Overview

Security-first development practices for web applications. Treat every external input as hostile, every secret as sacred, and every authorization check as mandatory. Security isn't a phase — it's a constraint on every line of code that touches user data, authentication, or external systems.

When to Use

• Building anything that accepts user input
• Implementing authentication or authorization
• Storing or transmitting sensitive data
• Integrating with external APIs or services
• Adding file uploads, webhooks, or callbacks
• Handling payment or PII data

Process: Threat Model First

Controls bolted on without a threat model are guesses. Before hardening, spend five minutes thinking like an attacker:

1. Map the trust boundaries. Where does untrusted data cross into your system? HTTP requests, form fields, file uploads, webhooks, third-party APIs, message queues, and LLM output. Every boundary is attack surface.
2. Name the assets. What's worth stealing or breaking? Credentials, PII, payment data, admin actions, money movement.
3. Run STRIDE over each boundary — a quick lens, not a ceremony:

Threat	Ask	Typical mitigation
Spoofing	Can someone impersonate a user/service?	Authentication, signature verification
Tampering	Can data be altered in transit or at rest?	Integrity checks, parameterized queries, HTTPS
Repudiation	Can an action be denied later?	Audit logging of security events
Information disclosure	Can data leak?	Encryption, field allowlists, generic errors
Denial of service	Can it be overwhelmed?	Rate limiting, input size caps, timeouts
Elevation of privilege	Can a user gain rights they shouldn't?	Authorization checks, least privilege

4. Write abuse cases next to use cases. For each feature, ask "how would I misuse this?" — then make that your first test.

If you can't name the trust boundaries for a feature, you're not ready to secure it. This is OWASP A04: Insecure Design — most breaches begin in design, not code.

The Three-Tier Boundary System

Always Do (No Exceptions)

• Validate all external input at the system boundary (API routes, form handlers)
• Parameterize all database queries — never concatenate user input into SQL
• Encode output to prevent XSS (use framework auto-escaping, don't bypass it)
• Use HTTPS for all external communication
• Hash passwords with bcrypt/scrypt/argon2 (never store plaintext)
• Set security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options)
• Use httpOnly, secure, sameSite cookies for sessions
• Run npm audit (or equivalent) before every release

Ask First (Requires Human Approval)

• Adding new authentication flows or changing auth logic
• Storing new categories of sensitive data (PII, payment info)
• Adding new external service integrations
• Changing CORS configuration
• Adding file upload handlers
• Modifying rate limiting or throttling
• Granting elevated permissions or roles

Never Do

• Never commit secrets to version control (API keys, passwords, tokens)
• Never log sensitive data (passwords, tokens, full credit card numbers)
• Never trust client-side validation as a security boundary
• Never disable security headers for convenience
• Never use eval() or innerHTML with user-provided data
• Never store sessions in client-accessible storage (localStorage for auth tokens)
• Never expose stack traces or internal error details to users

OWASP Top 10 Prevention Patterns

These are prevention patterns, not a ranking. For the 2021 ordering, see the quick-reference table in references/security-checklist.md.

Injection (SQL, NoSQL, OS Command)

// BAD: SQL injection via string concatenation
const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = '${userId}'`;

// GOOD: Parameterized query
const user = await db.query('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1', [userId]);

// GOOD: ORM with parameterized input
const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({ where: { id: userId } });

Broken Authentication

// Password hashing
import { hash, compare } from 'bcrypt';

const SALT_ROUNDS = 12;
const hashedPassword = await hash(plaintext, SALT_ROUNDS);
const isValid = await compare(plaintext, hashedPassword);

// Session management
app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET,  // From environment, not code
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: {
    httpOnly: true,     // Not accessible via JavaScript
    secure: true,       // HTTPS only
    sameSite: 'lax',    // CSRF protection
    maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000,  // 24 hours
  },
}));

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

// BAD: Rendering user input as HTML
element.innerHTML = userInput;

// GOOD: Use framework auto-escaping (React does this by default)
return <div>{userInput}</div>;

// If you MUST render HTML, sanitize first
import DOMPurify from 'dompurify';
const clean = DOMPurify.sanitize(userInput);

Broken Access Control

// Always check authorization, not just authentication
app.patch('/api/tasks/:id', authenticate, async (req, res) => {
  const task = await taskService.findById(req.params.id);

  // Check that the authenticated user owns this resource
  if (task.ownerId !== req.user.id) {
    return res.status(403).json({
      error: { code: 'FORBIDDEN', message: 'Not authorized to modify this task' }
    });
  }

  // Proceed with update
  const updated = await taskService.update(req.params.id, req.body);
  return res.json(updated);
});

Security Misconfiguration

// Security headers (use helmet for Express)
import helmet from 'helmet';
app.use(helmet());

// Content Security Policy
app.use(helmet.contentSecurityPolicy({
  directives: {
    defaultSrc: ["'self'"],
    scriptSrc: ["'self'"],
    styleSrc: ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],  // Tighten if possible
    imgSrc: ["'self'", 'data:', 'https:'],
    connectSrc: ["'self'"],
  },
}));

// CORS — restrict to known origins
app.use(cors({
  origin: process.env.ALLOWED_ORIGINS?.split(',') || 'http://localhost:3000',
  credentials: true,
}));

Sensitive Data Exposure

// Never return sensitive fields in API responses
function sanitizeUser(user: UserRecord): PublicUser {
  const { passwordHash, resetToken, ...publicFields } = user;
  return publicFields;
}

// Use environment variables for secrets
const API_KEY = process.env.STRIPE_API_KEY;
if (!API_KEY) throw new Error('STRIPE_API_KEY not configured');

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

Any time the server fetches a URL the user influenced — webhooks, "import from URL", image proxies, link previews — an attacker can aim it at internal services (cloud metadata, localhost, private IPs).

// BAD: fetch whatever the user gives you
await fetch(req.body.webhookUrl);

// GOOD: allowlist scheme + host, reject if ANY resolved IP is private, forbid redirects
import { lookup } from 'node:dns/promises';
import ipaddr from 'ipaddr.js';

const ALLOWED_HOSTS = new Set(['hooks.example.com']);

async function assertSafeUrl(raw: string): Promise<URL> {
  const url = new URL(raw);
  if (url.protocol !== 'https:') throw new Error('https only');
  if (!ALLOWED_HOSTS.has(url.hostname)) throw new Error('host not allowed');
  // Resolve ALL records; a single private/reserved address fails the check.
  const addrs = await lookup(url.hostname, { all: true });
  if (addrs.some((a) => ipaddr.parse(a.address).range() !== 'unicast')) {
    throw new Error('private/reserved IP');
  }
  return url;
}

await fetch(await assertSafeUrl(req.body.webhookUrl), { redirect: 'error' });

The range() !== 'unicast' check covers loopback, link-local 169.254.169.254 (cloud metadata, the #1 SSRF target), private, and unique-local ranges across IPv4 and IPv6.

Caveat — this still has a TOCTOU gap. fetch resolves DNS again after the check, so an attacker using a short-TTL record can rebind to an internal IP between validation and connection. For high-risk surfaces, resolve once and connect to the pinned IP, or put a filtering agent in front (request-filtering-agent / ssrf-req-filter).

Input Validation Patterns

Schema Validation at Boundaries

import { z } from 'zod';

const CreateTaskSchema = z.object({
  title: z.string().min(1).max(200).trim(),
  description: z.string().max(2000).optional(),
  priority: z.enum(['low', 'medium', 'high']).default('medium'),
  dueDate: z.string().datetime().optional(),
});

// Validate at the route handler
app.post('/api/tasks', async (req, res) => {
  const result = CreateTaskSchema.safeParse(req.body);
  if (!result.success) {
    return res.status(422).json({
      error: {
        code: 'VALIDATION_ERROR',
        message: 'Invalid input',
        details: result.error.flatten(),
      },
    });
  }
  // result.data is now typed and validated
  const task = await taskService.create(result.data);
  return res.status(201).json(task);
});

File Upload Safety

// Restrict file types and sizes
const ALLOWED_TYPES = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/webp'];
const MAX_SIZE = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB

function validateUpload(file: UploadedFile) {
  if (!ALLOWED_TYPES.includes(file.mimetype)) {
    throw new ValidationError('File type not allowed');
  }
  if (file.size > MAX_SIZE) {
    throw new ValidationError('File too large (max 5MB)');
  }
  // Don't trust the file extension — check magic bytes if critical
}

Triaging npm audit Results

Not all audit findings require immediate action. Use this decision tree:

npm audit reports a vulnerability
├── Severity: critical or high
│   ├── Is the vulnerable code reachable in your app?
│   │   ├── YES --> Fix immediately (update, patch, or replace the dependency)
│   │   └── NO (dev-only dep, unused code path) --> Fix soon, but not a blocker
│   └── Is a fix available?
│       ├── YES --> Update to the patched version
│       └── NO --> Check for workarounds, consider replacing the dependency, or add to allowlist with a review date
├── Severity: moderate
│   ├── Reachable in production? --> Fix in the next release cycle
│   └── Dev-only? --> Fix when convenient, track in backlog
└── Severity: low
    └── Track and fix during regular dependency updates

Key questions:

• Is the vulnerable function actually called in your code path?
• Is the dependency a runtime dependency or dev-only?
• Is the vulnerability exploitable given your deployment context (e.g., a server-side vulnerability in a client-only app)?

When you defer a fix, document the reason and set a review date.

Supply-Chain Hygiene

npm audit catches known CVEs; it won't catch a malicious or typosquatted package. Also:

• Commit the lockfile and install with npm ci (not npm install) in CI — reproducible builds, no silent version drift.
• Review new dependencies before adding them — maintenance, download counts, and whether they truly earn their place. Every dependency is attack surface (OWASP A06: Vulnerable Components, LLM03: Supply Chain).
• Be wary of postinstall scripts in unfamiliar packages — they run arbitrary code at install time.
• Watch for typosquats — cross-env vs crossenv, react-dom vs reactdom.

Rate Limiting

import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit';

// General API rate limit
app.use('/api/', rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100,                   // 100 requests per window
  standardHeaders: true,
  legacyHeaders: false,
}));

// Stricter limit for auth endpoints
app.use('/api/auth/', rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
  max: 10,  // 10 attempts per 15 minutes
}));

Secrets Management

.env files:
  ├── .env.example  → Committed (template with placeholder values)
  ├── .env          → NOT committed (contains real secrets)
  └── .env.local    → NOT committed (local overrides)

.gitignore must include:
  .env
  .env.local
  .env.*.local
  *.pem
  *.key

Always check before committing:

# Check for accidentally staged secrets
git diff --cached | grep -i "password\|secret\|api_key\|token"

If a secret is ever committed, rotate it. Deleting the line or rewriting history is not enough — assume it's compromised the moment it reaches a remote. Revoke and reissue the key first, then purge it from history.

Securing AI / LLM Features

If your app calls an LLM — chatbots, summarizers, agents, RAG — it inherits a new attack surface. Map it to the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications (2025):

• Treat all model output as untrusted input (LLM05: Improper Output Handling). Never pass LLM output straight into eval, SQL, a shell, innerHTML, or a file path. Validate and encode it exactly as you would raw user input.
• Assume prompts can be hijacked (LLM01: Prompt Injection). Untrusted text in the context window — a user message, a fetched web page, a PDF — can carry instructions. The system prompt is not a security boundary; enforce permissions in code, not in the prompt.
• Keep secrets and other users' data out of prompts (LLM02 / LLM07). Anything in the context can be echoed back. Don't put API keys, cross-tenant data, or the full system prompt where the model can repeat it.
• Constrain tool and agent permissions (LLM06: Excessive Agency). Scope tools to the minimum, require confirmation for destructive or irreversible actions, and validate every tool argument.
• Bound consumption (LLM10: Unbounded Consumption). Cap tokens, request rate, and loop/recursion depth so a crafted input can't run up cost or hang the system.
• Isolate retrieval data (LLM08: Vector and Embedding Weaknesses). In RAG, treat the vector store as a trust boundary: partition embeddings per tenant so one user can't retrieve another's data, and validate documents before indexing so poisoned content can't steer answers.

// BAD: trusting model output as a command or as markup
const sql = await llm.generate(`Write SQL for: ${userQuestion}`);
await db.query(sql);                                   // arbitrary query execution
container.innerHTML = await llm.reply(userMessage);   // stored XSS, via the model

// GOOD: model output is data — parse defensively, then validate, then encode
let intent;
try {
  intent = CommandSchema.parse(JSON.parse(await llm.replyJson(userMessage)));
} catch {
  throw new ValidationError('unexpected model output'); // JSON.parse or schema failed
}
await runAllowlistedAction(intent.action, intent.params);
container.textContent = await llm.reply(userMessage);

Security Review Checklist

### Authentication
- [ ] Passwords hashed with bcrypt/scrypt/argon2 (salt rounds ≥ 12)
- [ ] Session tokens are httpOnly, secure, sameSite
- [ ] Login has rate limiting
- [ ] Password reset tokens expire

### Authorization
- [ ] Every endpoint checks user permissions
- [ ] Users can only access their own resources
- [ ] Admin actions require admin role verification

### Input
- [ ] All user input validated at the boundary
- [ ] SQL queries are parameterized
- [ ] HTML output is encoded/escaped
- [ ] Server-side URL fetches are allowlisted (no SSRF to internal services)

### Data
- [ ] No secrets in code or version control
- [ ] Sensitive fields excluded from API responses
- [ ] PII encrypted at rest (if applicable)

### Infrastructure
- [ ] Security headers configured (CSP, HSTS, etc.)
- [ ] CORS restricted to known origins
- [ ] Dependencies audited for vulnerabilities
- [ ] Error messages don't expose internals

### Supply Chain
- [ ] Lockfile committed; CI installs with `npm ci`
- [ ] New dependencies reviewed (maintenance, downloads, postinstall scripts)

### AI / LLM (if used)
- [ ] Model output treated as untrusted (no eval/SQL/innerHTML/shell)
- [ ] Secrets and other users' data kept out of prompts
- [ ] Tool/agent permissions scoped; destructive actions require confirmation

See Also

For detailed security checklists and pre-commit verification steps, see references/security-checklist.md.

Common Rationalizations

Rationalization	Reality
"This is an internal tool, security doesn't matter"	Internal tools get compromised. Attackers target the weakest link.
"We'll add security later"	Security retrofitting is 10x harder than building it in. Add it now.
"No one would try to exploit this"	Automated scanners will find it. Security by obscurity is not security.
"The framework handles security"	Frameworks provide tools, not guarantees. You still need to use them correctly.
"It's just a prototype"	Prototypes become production. Security habits from day one.
"Threat modeling is overkill here"	Five minutes of "how would I attack this?" prevents the design flaws no control can patch later.
"It's just LLM output, it's only text"	That "text" can be a SQL statement, a script tag, or a shell command. Treat it like any untrusted input.

Red Flags

• User input passed directly to database queries, shell commands, or HTML rendering
• Secrets in source code or commit history
• API endpoints without authentication or authorization checks
• Missing CORS configuration or wildcard (*) origins
• No rate limiting on authentication endpoints
• Stack traces or internal errors exposed to users
• Dependencies with known critical vulnerabilities
• Server fetches user-supplied URLs without an allowlist (SSRF)
• LLM/model output passed into a query, the DOM, a shell, or eval
• Secrets, PII, or the full system prompt placed inside an LLM context window

Verification

After implementing security-relevant code:

• npm audit shows no critical or high vulnerabilities
• No secrets in source code or git history
• All user input validated at system boundaries
• Authentication and authorization checked on every protected endpoint
• Security headers present in response (check with browser DevTools)
• Error responses don't expose internal details
• Rate limiting active on auth endpoints
• Server-side URL fetches validated against an allowlist (no SSRF)
• LLM/model output validated and encoded before use (if AI features present)