Security audit

Security Auditing Workflow

Systematic security review using static analysis tools available in the codebase. Covers OWASP Top 10, secrets exposure, auth patterns, and dependency risk.

Phase 1: Reconnaissance — Map the Attack Surface

1. Identify entry points — list all routes/controllers:

   grep -rn "app\.\(get\|post\|put\|delete\|patch\)\|@app\.route\|router\." src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -60
   

2. Identify auth middleware — check which routes are protected:

   grep -rn "auth\|middleware\|guard\|require_login\|jwt\|bearer" src/ -i --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -40
   

3. Map external dependencies — check package files for known-risky libs:

   cat package.json 2>/dev/null || cat requirements.txt 2>/dev/null || cat go.mod 2>/dev/null
   

4. Note findings — list: total endpoints found, unprotected routes, third-party auth libs.

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Phase 2: Secrets & Sensitive Data Exposure

1. Scan for hardcoded secrets:

   grep -rn "password\s*=\s*['\"][^'\"]\|api_key\s*=\s*['\"][^'\"]\|secret\s*=\s*['\"][^'\"]" src/ -i | grep -v ".example" | head -30
   

2. Scan for tokens/keys in source:

   grep -rEn "(sk-|AIza|AKIA|ghp_|xox[baprs]-)[A-Za-z0-9]+" src/ | head -20
   

3. Check .env files are gitignored:

   cat .gitignore | grep -i "\.env" ; ls -la .env* 2>/dev/null
   

4. Check for secrets in logs:

   grep -rn "console\.log.*password\|logger.*token\|print.*secret" src/ -i | head -20
   

Flag: any hardcoded credential or unignored .env file is a P0 finding.

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Phase 3: Injection & Input Validation

1. SQL injection risk — look for string concatenation in queries:

   grep -rn "query.*+\|execute.*f\"\|raw.*%s\|SELECT.*\$\{" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -30
   

2. Command injection risk — shell execution with user input:

   grep -rn "exec(\|spawn(\|subprocess\|os\.system\|child_process" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -20
   

3. XSS risk — unescaped HTML rendering:

   grep -rn "innerHTML\|dangerouslySetInnerHTML\|v-html\|\.html(" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,vue}" | head -20
   

4. Check for input validation middleware — is there a schema validator at boundaries?

   grep -rn "joi\|zod\|yup\|pydantic\|cerberus\|marshmallow" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -10
   

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Phase 4: Authentication & Authorization

1. JWT / token handling — check for weak configs:

   grep -rn "algorithm.*HS256\|expiresIn\|verify\|decode" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -20
   

2. Password hashing — confirm bcrypt/argon2, not MD5/SHA1:

   grep -rn "md5\|sha1\|hashSync\|bcrypt\|argon2\|pbkdf2" src/ -i --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -20
   

3. CORS config — check for wildcard origins:

   grep -rn "cors\|Access-Control-Allow-Origin\|\*" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -20
   

4. Authorization checks — look for missing ownership checks in update/delete:

   grep -rn "findById\|findOne\|get_object_or_404" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -20
   

   Review each — does the handler verify resource.userId === req.user.id?

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Phase 5: Security Headers & Config

1. HTTP security headers — check if helmet/similar is configured:

   grep -rn "helmet\|Content-Security-Policy\|X-Frame-Options\|Strict-Transport" src/ --include="*.{js,ts}" | head -10
   

2. Rate limiting — check for brute-force protection on auth routes:

   grep -rn "rateLimit\|throttle\|rate_limit\|slowDown" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -10
   

3. HTTPS enforcement — check redirect config:

   grep -rn "http://\|forceHttps\|redirectToHttps\|SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT" src/ --include="*.{js,ts,py}" | head -10
   

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Phase 6: Report Findings

For each finding, record:

Severity	Category	File:Line	Description	Remediation
P0 Critical
P1 High
P2 Medium
P3 Low / Info

Severity guide:

• P0: Hardcoded credential, remote code execution, auth bypass
• P1: SQL injection, XSS, IDOR, broken auth
• P2: Missing rate limit, weak hashing, CORS wildcard
• P3: Missing security header, verbose errors, info disclosure

Save report to docs/technical/security-audit-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md.

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Security Checklist

OWASP Top 10

• A01 Broken Access Control — ownership checks on every mutation
• A02 Cryptographic Failures — no hardcoded secrets, strong hashing
• A03 Injection — parameterized queries, no string concat in SQL/shell
• A04 Insecure Design — auth required on all sensitive routes
• A05 Security Misconfiguration — security headers, CORS, HTTPS
• A06 Vulnerable Components — no known-CVE dependencies
• A07 Auth & Session — JWT config, expiry, refresh token rotation
• A08 Integrity Failures — no unverified package installs in CI
• A09 Logging & Monitoring — no secrets in logs, audit trail exists
• A10 SSRF — no unvalidated URL-fetch from user input

Protocol

• Question: Reads target scope from argument (api / frontend / backend / infra / full)
• Options: Skip
• Decision: Skip — audit is comprehensive; scope from argument
• Draft: Findings table shown in conversation before saving report
• Approval: "May I write to docs/technical/security-audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].md?"

Output

Deliver exactly:

• Findings table with severity (P0–P3), file:line, description, and remediation for each issue
• OWASP Top 10 checklist — 10 items marked pass / fail / N/A
• Report file saved to docs/technical/security-audit-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md
• Verdict: CLEAN / LOW RISK / MEDIUM RISK / HIGH RISK — DO NOT DEPLOY

Secure Coding Reference

When the audit finds a vulnerability and the fix requires hands-on secure coding guidance, apply the following patterns inline (no separate skill needed).

Backend Secure Coding Patterns

• Input validation: allowlist approach — reject anything not explicitly allowed
• Injection prevention: parameterized queries only; never string-concat into SQL/shell
• Auth: bcrypt or Argon2 for passwords; JWT with expiry + rotation; PKCE for OAuth
• CORS: explicit origin allowlist; never Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * on credentialed routes
• CSRF: HttpOnly + SameSite=Strict cookies; double-submit or synchronizer token for mutations
• SSRF: URL allowlist before any server-side fetch; block internal IP ranges
• Error handling: never expose stack traces or internal paths to API consumers
• Secrets: never hardcode; use env vars + secret manager; rotate on suspected exposure

Frontend Secure Coding Patterns

• XSS: prefer textContent over innerHTML; sanitize with DOMPurify if HTML is required
• CSP: configure Content-Security-Policy with nonce-based script restrictions; report-only first
• Token storage: HttpOnly cookies over localStorage for session tokens
• Redirects: validate destination against allowlist before any client-side navigation
• SRI: use integrity= attribute on all third-party script/style tags from CDN
• Clickjacking: set X-Frame-Options: DENY or CSP frame-ancestors 'none' at server level
• Open redirect: never use raw query params as redirect destinations; use identifier mapping

Related Skills

• code-review — line-by-line review with security lens
• guard — freeze check before deploying a fix