Adolfo Reyna
78 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
78 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Password Security Hardening Plan
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## Scope
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- Applies to auth and password flows in:
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- `index.js`
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- `auth/authEmail.js`
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- `mongoDB.js`
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## 1. Replace insecure reset flow with single-use token login
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- Problem:
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- Current flow resets by username and emails a plaintext temporary password.
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- Implementation:
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- Keep `POST /resetPassword` as token request endpoint:
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- Accept identifier (email/username).
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- Always return generic success response.
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- If account exists, create one-time login token with short TTL (15-30 min), store hashed token, email link.
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- Add `POST /password/token-login`:
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- Accept token.
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- Validate token (exists, not expired, unused), mark used atomically, then create normal auth session cookies.
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- Data model:
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- New collection `password_login_tokens` with fields:
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- `userId`, `tokenHash`, `expiresAt`, `usedAt`, `createdAt`, `requestMeta`.
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- Add TTL index on `expiresAt`.
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## 2. Remove credential handling from GET/query
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- Problem:
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- `/signup` and `/login` accept GET and query params for credentials.
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- Implementation:
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- Change auth routes to `POST` only.
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- Read credentials from JSON body only.
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- Reject query-based credential inputs with `400`.
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- Update Swagger docs and clients accordingly.
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## 3. Add account-aware brute-force protection
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- Problem:
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- Only global IP limiter exists; auth endpoints are not sufficiently protected.
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- Implementation:
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- Add dedicated limiter middleware for auth endpoints (`/login`, `/password/request-reset`, `/password/confirm-reset`):
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- Combined key: normalized username/email + source IP.
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- Lower thresholds and progressive backoff/lockout window.
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- Add telemetry for blocked attempts.
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- Optionally store counters in Redis if horizontally scaled.
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## 4. Prevent account enumeration
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- Problem:
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- API exposes different responses for unknown user vs wrong password.
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- Implementation:
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- Login: same response for invalid credentials regardless of user existence.
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- Reset request: always same response regardless of account existence.
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- Keep detailed reason only in internal logs/analytics.
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## 5. Keep strong password hashing policy (clarify bcrypt behavior)
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- Problem:
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- Existing TODO comments incorrectly state bcrypt needs manual salt handling.
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- Implementation:
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- Keep bcrypt (or migrate to Argon2id in a separate change set).
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- Centralize hash policy:
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- cost factor (benchmark-backed; start at 12 if acceptable latency).
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- minimum password length and strength checks.
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- On login, detect outdated hash params and rehash after successful auth.
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## Suggested rollout order
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1. Tokenized login flow (new endpoint + DB token store).
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2. POST-only auth route enforcement.
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3. Generic auth/reset responses.
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4. Dedicated auth rate limiting.
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5. Hash policy tuning + opportunistic rehash.
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## Validation checklist
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- Unit/integration tests:
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- token creation, expiry, one-time use, invalid token paths.
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- login generic error response behavior.
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- auth rate limiter trigger and cooldown.
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- query credential rejection.
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- Manual:
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- verify no plaintext password emails are sent.
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- verify token cannot be reused after first successful consumption.
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