Last Updated: November 4, 2025

The BASNY BAP platform has undergone comprehensive security hardening and now maintains an A security grade with defense-in-depth authentication protection.

Major Security Milestone: All high-priority authentication vulnerabilities fixed on October 7, 2025.

SQL Injection Prevention (A+)

• 100% parameterized queries throughout codebase
• Proper prepared statement usage with finalization
• Transaction support with rollback handling
• Zero SQL injection vectors identified

Infrastructure Security (A)

• HTTPS enforced with HSTS (max-age=31536000, preload)
• TLS 1.2+ only, strong cipher suites
• Security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, CSP)
• nginx rate limiting (10r/s general, 30r/s API, 5r/s uploads)
• Server tokens disabled (nginx + Express)
• Default server block rejects invalid Host headers

File Upload Security (A)

• Multi-layer validation (MIME type, magic bytes, Sharp metadata)
• Dimension constraints (400px-4000px)
• EXIF stripping for privacy
• Comprehensive rate limiting (per-user + IP-based)
• 10MB file size limit
• Authentication required for uploads
• Transaction-based cleanup on failure (#68, #69)

Authentication Security (A) - NEW! ✨

• OAuth CSRF protection with state parameter (#81)
• Session fixation prevention (ID regeneration on auth) (#82)
• Timing attack mitigation (constant-time operations) (#78)
• Rate limiting on all auth endpoints (#77)
• Account lockout (5 attempts/15min, auto-recovery) (#79)
• Password complexity requirements (configurable levels) (#85)
• Comprehensive logging of suspicious activity

Input Validation (A-)

• Zod schemas for all forms
• Server-side validation with field-level errors
• Type safety via TypeScript
• Pug templates auto-escape output
• Maximum field lengths enforced (#87)

Password Security (A) - UPGRADED! ✨

• scrypt KDF (N=16384, r=8, p=1)
• Random 16-byte salts
• Server-side storage only
• Minimum 12 character requirement (#85)
• Configurable complexity levels (1-3)
• NIST-compliant (prioritizes length over complexity)

Session Management (A) - UPGRADED! ✨

• httpOnly, secure, sameSite: 'lax' cookies
• Server-side session storage (SQLite)
• 180-day expiry with database validation
• Session regeneration on authentication (#82)
• OAuth state tracking for CSRF protection
• Proper cleanup on logout

Accessibility (A) - NEW! ✨

• WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant
• Semantic HTML with proper ARIA labels
• Screen reader support throughout
• Date fields use <time> elements with datetime attributes
• Form validation with accessible error messages
• Loading states prevent accidental resubmission (#49, #34)

All previously identified vulnerabilities have been fixed:

1. ✅ Authentication Timing Attacks (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: Email enumeration via response time differences
• Fix: Constant-time password check with dummy hash
• Fix: Forgot password simulates operations (300ms delay)
• Commit: f0be693
• Status: RESOLVED

2. ✅ No Account Lockout (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: Unlimited login attempts allowed
• Fix: 5 attempts within 15min → 15min lockout
• Fix: Auto-recovery, cleared on successful login
• Commit: fa3d8d6
• Status: RESOLVED

3. ✅ OAuth Missing State Parameter (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: OAuth CSRF vulnerability
• Fix: State parameter validation, one-time use
• Commit: 1dbab33, 5f48a95
• Status: RESOLVED

4. ✅ Session Fixation (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: Session ID not regenerated on authentication
• Fix: Session ID regeneration on all auth events
• Commit: 077af06
• Status: RESOLVED

5. ✅ No Authentication Rate Limiting (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: Brute force attacks possible
• Fix: Login: 5/15min, Signup: 3/hour, Forgot: 3/hour, OAuth: 10/5min
• Commit: 69c539d, 47010c4
• Status: RESOLVED

6. ✅ Weak Password Policy (Fixed Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: No minimum password requirements
• Fix: 12 character minimum, 3 configurable complexity levels
• Commit: eae9754
• Status: RESOLVED

7. ✅ Secrets in config.json (Decision Oct 7, 2025)

• Issue: All secrets in one unencrypted file
• Decision: Keep in config.json with 600 permissions
• Rationale: File properly secured, deployment model appropriate
• Status: ACCEPTED AS-IS

Our security approach uses layered defenses so that if one layer fails, others protect the system:

Layer 1: Network & Infrastructure

• HTTPS/TLS encryption
• nginx rate limiting (general)
• HSTS header

Layer 2: Application Rate Limiting

• 5 login attempts per 15 minutes (per IP+email)
• 3 signup attempts per hour (per IP)
• 3 password reset attempts per hour (per IP)
• 10 OAuth attempts per 5 minutes (per IP)

Layer 3: Account Lockout

• 5 failed attempts within 15 minutes → 15 minute lockout
• Auto-recovery (no admin intervention)
• Failed attempts tracked per account
• Cleared on successful login

Layer 4: Authentication Security

• Session fixation prevention (regenerate ID on auth)
• OAuth CSRF protection (state parameter validation)
• Timing attack mitigation (constant-time operations)
• Strong password requirements (12+ characters)

Layer 5: Session Security

• httpOnly cookies (XSS protection)
• Secure flag (HTTPS only)
• sameSite: 'lax' (CSRF protection)
• Server-side storage
• Session regeneration

Layer 6: Password Storage

• scrypt KDF with strong parameters
• 16-byte random salts
• Server-side only
• No client-side password storage

Threat	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation	Status
Brute Force Password Attack	Medium	High	Rate limiting + Account lockout + Strong passwords	✅ MITIGATED
Credential Stuffing	Medium	High	Rate limiting + Account lockout + Timing protection	✅ MITIGATED
Email Enumeration	Low	Low	Timing attack fixes + Generic error messages	✅ MITIGATED
Session Hijacking	Low	High	httpOnly + secure + sameSite cookies + HTTPS	✅ MITIGATED
Session Fixation	Low	Medium	Session ID regeneration on authentication	✅ MITIGATED
OAuth CSRF	Low	Medium	State parameter validation (one-time use)	✅ MITIGATED
Password Spraying	Medium	Medium	Rate limiting + Account lockout	✅ MITIGATED
Timing Attacks	Low	Low	Constant-time password check + Simulated operations	✅ MITIGATED

Threat	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation	Status
SQL Injection	Low	Critical	100% parameterized queries	✅ MITIGATED
XSS	Low	High	Pug auto-escaping + CSP headers	✅ MITIGATED
File Upload Abuse	Medium	Medium	Multi-layer validation + Rate limiting + Size limits	✅ MITIGATED
Data Loss	Low	Critical	EBS snapshots + Termination protection + 5 safety layers	✅ MITIGATED
DDoS	Medium	High	nginx rate limiting + Application rate limiting	✅ MITIGATED

Threat	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation	Status
Privilege Escalation	Low	High	Admin middleware + Database-level checks	✅ MITIGATED
Unauthorized Data Access	Low	High	Session-based auth + Viewer checks	✅ MITIGATED
CSRF (General)	Medium	Medium	sameSite cookies + Future token implementation	🔄 PARTIAL

All security-relevant events are logged:

• Failed login attempts (with IP and email)
• Account lockouts
• OAuth state validation failures
• Rate limit violations
• Session regeneration events
• Suspicious activity patterns

Log Location: Application logs via winston logger

• Failed login rate
• Account lockout frequency
• Rate limit trigger frequency
• OAuth validation failures
• Session creation patterns

Frameworks Followed:

• ✅ OWASP Top 10 (2021)
• ✅ NIST Digital Identity Guidelines (SP 800-63B)
• ✅ WCAG 2.1 Level AA (Accessibility)

Security Headers:

• Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
• X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
• X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
• X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
• Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin

Completed Today:

1. ✅ OAuth CSRF Protection (#81) - State parameter with one-time validation
2. ✅ Session Fixation Prevention (#82) - Session ID regeneration on auth
3. ✅ Timing Attack Mitigation (#78) - Constant-time operations
4. ✅ Authentication Rate Limiting (#77) - Multi-tier rate limits
5. ✅ Account Lockout (#79) - 5 attempts/15min with auto-recovery
6. ✅ Password Complexity (#85) - 12 char minimum, 3 configurable levels
7. ✅ Image Upload Cleanup (#68, #69) - Transaction-based cleanup

Impact: Authentication system upgraded from B- to A grade

• General CSRF Protection (#19) - Token-based protection for all state-changing operations
• Estimated: 4-6 hours

• File Virus Scanning (#65) - ClamAV integration for uploaded images
• Concurrent Session Limiting (#86) - Limit active sessions per user

• Enhanced Logging - Structured logging with correlation IDs
• Security Headers Enhancement - Content-Security-Policy refinement

• ✅ 44 security-related tests
• ✅ Rate limiter tests (10 tests)
• ✅ Account lockout tests (10 tests)
• ✅ Password complexity tests (12 tests)
• ✅ OAuth state validation tests (pending)

• ✅ Authentication flows (signup, login, OAuth, password reset)
• ✅ Rate limiting verification
• ✅ Account lockout verification
• ✅ Loading indicators and double-click prevention

If you discover a security vulnerability:

1. Create a GitHub issue with security label
2. Mark as private if sensitive
3. Include reproduction steps
4. Response SLA: 24 hours for critical, 72 hours for medium/low

• Implemented OAuth state parameter CSRF protection
• Implemented session fixation prevention
• Fixed timing attacks in authentication flows
• Added comprehensive rate limiting to all auth endpoints
• Implemented account lockout mechanism (5 attempts/15min)
• Added password complexity requirements (12 char minimum)
• Enhanced form accessibility (ARIA labels, validation)
• Added HTMX loading indicators (double-click prevention)
• Security Grade: B+ → A

• Fixed logout CSRF vulnerability
• Enabled Dependabot
• Fixed 4 npm package vulnerabilities
• Comprehensive security audit completed
• Security Grade: B → B+

• OWASP Top 10
• NIST SP 800-63B
• OWASP Authentication Cheat Sheet
• WCAG 2.1