Security Architecture

🚨 Educational Purpose Only

This application contains intentional security vulnerabilities for educational purposes. Never deploy in production environments.

Overview

The Weak Website is deliberately designed with poor security architecture to demonstrate common security failures in web applications. This document outlines both the intentionally flawed security design and proper security architecture principles for educational comparison.

Intentionally Flawed Security Design

Authentication Architecture (Deliberately Weak)

graph TD
    A[User Login Request] --> B[Plain Text Password]
    B --> C[SQL Query Concatenation]
    C --> D[Database Query]
    D --> E[Hardcoded JWT Secret]
    E --> F[Predictable Token Generation]
    F --> G[Client Storage]

Security Flaws:

• Plain text password transmission
• SQL injection vulnerability in authentication
• Hardcoded JWT secrets
• No password hashing
• Missing rate limiting
• No account lockout mechanisms

Authorization Model (Insecure)

graph TD
    A[User Request] --> B[JWT Token Check]
    B --> C[No Permission Validation]
    C --> D[Direct Object Access]
    D --> E[Privilege Escalation]

Authorization Weaknesses:

• Missing role-based access control (RBAC)
• No permission matrix
• Insecure direct object references
• Missing horizontal privilege checks
• No audit logging

Data Flow Security (Vulnerable)

graph LR
    A[Client] --> B[Unencrypted HTTP]
    B --> C[Server]
    C --> D[Plain Text Database]
    D --> E[Unencrypted Storage]

Data Protection Failures:

• No HTTPS enforcement
• Unencrypted database connections
• Plain text password storage
• No data classification
• Missing encryption at rest

Vulnerability Categories by Layer

Presentation Layer Vulnerabilities

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

// Vulnerable React component
function PostContent({ content }) {
  return <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: content }} />;
}

Impact Areas:

• Session hijacking
• Credential theft
• UI manipulation
• Malware distribution

Client-Side Security Issues

• Missing Content Security Policy (CSP)
• No input validation on frontend
• Exposed sensitive information in JavaScript
• Missing CSRF protection

Application Layer Vulnerabilities

Input Validation Failures

// No input validation
@Post('create')
async createPost(@Body() postData: any) {
  // Direct database insertion without validation
  return this.postService.create(postData);
}

Business Logic Flaws

• Missing rate limiting
• No business rule validation
• Insufficient authorization checks
• Race condition vulnerabilities

Data Layer Vulnerabilities

Database Security Issues

-- Vulnerable query construction
SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${userId}
-- No parameterized queries
-- Missing access controls
-- Verbose error messages

Database Weaknesses:

• SQL injection vulnerabilities
• Missing database encryption
• Overprivileged database accounts
• No audit logging

Security Control Failures

Missing Security Headers

Current (Vulnerable) Response Headers:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Set-Cookie: token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

Missing Security Headers:

• Strict-Transport-Security
• Content-Security-Policy
• X-Frame-Options
• X-Content-Type-Options
• Referrer-Policy

Insufficient Logging and Monitoring

Missing Security Events:

• Failed login attempts
• Privilege escalation attempts
• Suspicious file uploads
• SQL injection attempts
• Data access patterns

Insecure Session Management

// Vulnerable session handling
const token = jwt.sign({ userId }, 'hardcoded-secret', { expiresIn: '1y' });

Session Security Issues:

• Hardcoded JWT secrets
• Long session timeouts
• No session invalidation
• Missing secure cookie flags

Proper Security Architecture (Educational Reference)

Secure Authentication Flow

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Client
    participant S as Server
    participant DB as Database
    participant Auth as Auth Service
    
    C->>S: HTTPS Login Request
    S->>S: Rate Limit Check
    S->>S: Input Validation
    S->>DB: Parameterized Query
    DB->>S: Hashed Password
    S->>S: Password Verification
    S->>Auth: Generate Secure Token
    Auth->>S: Signed JWT
    S->>C: Secure Cookie (HttpOnly, Secure)

Defense in Depth Architecture

graph TD
    A[Web Application Firewall] --> B[Load Balancer]
    B --> C[Reverse Proxy]
    C --> D[Application Server]
    D --> E[Database Firewall]
    E --> F[Encrypted Database]
    
    G[SIEM/Monitoring] --> A
    G --> B
    G --> C
    G --> D
    G --> E
    G --> F

Secure Data Flow

graph LR
    A[Client HTTPS] --> B[TLS Termination]
    B --> C[Input Validation]
    C --> D[Authorization Check]
    D --> E[Business Logic]
    E --> F[Encrypted DB Connection]
    F --> G[Encrypted Storage]

Security Patterns vs Anti-Patterns

Authentication Patterns

Vulnerability	Anti-Pattern (Current)	Secure Pattern
Password Storage	Plain text	Bcrypt/Argon2 hashing
SQL Injection	String concatenation	Parameterized queries
Session Management	Hardcoded secrets	Crypto-strong secrets
Rate Limiting	None	Token bucket/sliding window

Authorization Patterns

Vulnerability	Anti-Pattern (Current)	Secure Pattern
Access Control	No checks	RBAC/ABAC
Direct Object References	Direct access	Indirect references
Privilege Escalation	No validation	Principle of least privilege
Audit Logging	None	Comprehensive logging

Input Validation Patterns

Vulnerability	Anti-Pattern (Current)	Secure Pattern
XSS	No sanitization	Context-aware encoding
SQL Injection	String building	Prepared statements
File Upload	No restrictions	Strict validation
Command Injection	Direct execution	Sandboxed execution

Security Architecture Principles

CIA Triad Implementation

Confidentiality

• Current (Weak): No encryption, plain text storage
• Proper: End-to-end encryption, data classification

Integrity

• Current (Weak): No data validation, tampering possible
• Proper: Digital signatures, checksums, audit trails

Availability

• Current (Weak): No DDoS protection, single points of failure
• Proper: Load balancing, redundancy, rate limiting

Zero Trust Architecture

graph TD
    A[Never Trust] --> B[Always Verify]
    B --> C[Least Privilege Access]
    C --> D[Continuous Monitoring]
    D --> E[Micro-segmentation]
    E --> F[Encryption Everywhere]

Zero Trust Principles:

1. Verify explicitly: Authenticate and authorize every access
2. Use least privilege: Minimal access rights
3. Assume breach: Monitor and respond to threats

Secure Development Lifecycle

graph TD
    A[Threat Modeling] --> B[Secure Design]
    B --> C[Security Code Review]
    C --> D[Security Testing]
    D --> E[Security Deployment]
    E --> F[Security Monitoring]
    F --> A

Remediation Architecture

Layered Security Controls

Network Layer

• HTTPS enforcement
• Network segmentation
• Firewall rules
• DDoS protection

Application Layer

• Input validation
• Output encoding
• Authentication controls
• Authorization mechanisms

Data Layer

• Encryption at rest
• Encryption in transit
• Access controls
• Audit logging

Security Monitoring Architecture

graph TD
    A[Application Logs] --> D[SIEM Platform]
    B[Security Events] --> D
    C[Audit Trails] --> D
    D --> E[Alert Engine]
    E --> F[Incident Response]
    F --> G[Threat Intelligence]
    G --> H[Security Improvements]

Educational Learning Objectives

Security Architecture Understanding

1. Threat Modeling: Learn to identify potential attack vectors
2. Defense in Depth: Understand layered security approaches
3. Secure by Design: Design security into applications from start
4. Risk Assessment: Evaluate and prioritize security risks

Practical Skills Development

1. Security Testing: Systematic vulnerability assessment
2. Code Review: Identify security flaws in source code
3. Incident Response: Respond to security breaches
4. Compliance: Understand regulatory requirements

Career Applications

1. Security Architect: Design secure systems
2. Penetration Tester: Assess security posture
3. Security Engineer: Implement security controls
4. DevSecOps: Integrate security into development

Next Steps

• Testing Methodology - Systematic security testing
• Vulnerability Overview - Comprehensive vulnerability catalog
• Tools and Scripts - Security testing automation