Skip to main content

OWASP Security

Learn how to ensure your code meets OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) security standards.

OWASP Top 10​

A01: Broken Access Control​

  • Inadequate access controls
  • Privilege escalation
  • Insecure direct object references

A02: Cryptographic Failures​

  • Weak encryption
  • Insecure data transmission
  • Inadequate key management

A03: Injection​

  • SQL injection
  • NoSQL injection
  • Command injection

A04: Insecure Design​

  • Security by design
  • Threat modeling
  • Secure architecture

A05: Security Misconfiguration​

  • Default configurations
  • Insecure headers
  • Unnecessary features

A06: Vulnerable Components​

  • Outdated dependencies
  • Known vulnerabilities
  • Insecure libraries

A07: Authentication Failures​

  • Weak authentication
  • Session management
  • Multi-factor authentication

A08: Software and Data Integrity​

  • Supply chain security
  • Code integrity
  • Data validation

A09: Security Logging​

  • Insufficient logging
  • Log tampering
  • Monitoring gaps

A10: Server-Side Request Forgery​

  • SSRF vulnerabilities
  • Insecure requests
  • Input validation

Common Violations​

Access Control​

// Bad: No access control
app.get('/admin', (req, res) => {
  res.send(adminData); // No authentication check
});

// Good: Proper access control
app.get('/admin', authenticate, authorize('admin'), (req, res) => {
  res.send(adminData);
});

Input Validation​

// Bad: No input validation
app.post('/user', (req, res) => {
  const user = req.body; // No validation
  createUser(user);
});

// Good: Input validation
app.post('/user', validateUser, (req, res) => {
  const user = req.body; // Validated
  createUser(user);
});

Data Encryption​

// Bad: No encryption
const data = await getData(); // No encryption
localStorage.setItem('data', data);

// Good: Encrypted data
const encryptedData = await encrypt(data);
localStorage.setItem('data', encryptedData);

Best Practices​

Security Headers​

// Good: Security headers
app.use((req, res, next) => {
  res.setHeader('X-Content-Type-Options', 'nosniff');
  res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY');
  res.setHeader('X-XSS-Protection', '1; mode=block');
  next();
});

Input Sanitization​

// Good: Input sanitization
const sanitizeInput = (input) => {
  return input
    .replace(/<script[^<]*(?:(?!</script>)<[^<]*)*</script>/gi, '')
    .replace(/[<>]/g, '');
};

Secure Authentication​

// Good: Secure authentication
const authenticate = async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1];
    const decoded = jwt.verify(token, process.env.JWT_SECRET);
    req.user = decoded;
    next();
  } catch (error) {
    res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid token' });
  }
};

Compliance Checklist​

  • Access controls are implemented
  • Input validation is in place
  • Data encryption is used
  • Security headers are set
  • Dependencies are up to date
  • Authentication is secure
  • Logging is adequate
  • Regular security audits are conducted

Resources​