home / skills / hoodini / ai-agents-skills / owasp-security

owasp-security skill

/skills/owasp-security

This skill helps you implement secure coding practices aligned with OWASP Top 10 to prevent vulnerabilities across authentication, APIs, and data protection.

npx playbooks add skill hoodini/ai-agents-skills --skill owasp-security

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (1)
SKILL.md
13.4 KB
---
name: owasp-security
description: Implement secure coding practices following OWASP Top 10. Use when preventing security vulnerabilities, implementing authentication, securing APIs, or conducting security reviews. Triggers on OWASP, security, XSS, SQL injection, CSRF, authentication security, secure coding, vulnerability.
---

# OWASP Top 10 Security

Prevent common security vulnerabilities in web applications.

## OWASP Top 10 (2021)

| # | Vulnerability | Prevention |
|---|---------------|------------|
| A01 | Broken Access Control | Proper authorization checks |
| A02 | Cryptographic Failures | Strong encryption, secure storage |
| A03 | Injection | Input validation, parameterized queries |
| A04 | Insecure Design | Threat modeling, secure patterns |
| A05 | Security Misconfiguration | Hardened configs, no defaults |
| A06 | Vulnerable Components | Dependency scanning, updates |
| A07 | Auth Failures | MFA, secure session management |
| A08 | Data Integrity Failures | Input validation, signed updates |
| A09 | Logging Failures | Comprehensive audit logs |
| A10 | SSRF | URL validation, allowlists |

## A01: Broken Access Control

### Prevention Patterns
```typescript
// ❌ BAD: No authorization check
app.get('/api/users/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const user = await db.users.findById(req.params.id);
  res.json(user);
});

// ✅ GOOD: Verify ownership
app.get('/api/users/:id', authenticate, async (req, res) => {
  const userId = req.params.id;
  
  // Users can only access their own data
  if (req.user.id !== userId && req.user.role !== 'admin') {
    return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Forbidden' });
  }
  
  const user = await db.users.findById(userId);
  res.json(user);
});

// ✅ GOOD: Role-based access control (RBAC)
const requireRole = (...roles: string[]) => {
  return (req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) => {
    if (!roles.includes(req.user?.role)) {
      return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Insufficient permissions' });
    }
    next();
  };
};

app.delete('/api/posts/:id', authenticate, requireRole('admin', 'moderator'), deletePost);
```

### Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR)
```typescript
// ❌ BAD: Predictable IDs exposed
GET /api/invoices/1001
GET /api/invoices/1002  // Can enumerate others' invoices

// ✅ GOOD: Use UUIDs + ownership check
app.get('/api/invoices/:id', authenticate, async (req, res) => {
  const invoice = await db.invoices.findOne({
    id: req.params.id,
    userId: req.user.id,  // Enforce ownership
  });
  
  if (!invoice) {
    return res.status(404).json({ error: 'Not found' });
  }
  
  res.json(invoice);
});
```

## A02: Cryptographic Failures

### Password Hashing
```typescript
import bcrypt from 'bcrypt';
import crypto from 'crypto';

// ✅ Hash passwords with bcrypt
const SALT_ROUNDS = 12;

async function hashPassword(password: string): Promise<string> {
  return bcrypt.hash(password, SALT_ROUNDS);
}

async function verifyPassword(password: string, hash: string): Promise<boolean> {
  return bcrypt.compare(password, hash);
}

// ✅ Secure token generation
function generateSecureToken(length = 32): string {
  return crypto.randomBytes(length).toString('hex');
}

// ✅ Encrypt sensitive data
const ALGORITHM = 'aes-256-gcm';
const KEY = crypto.scryptSync(process.env.ENCRYPTION_KEY!, 'salt', 32);

function encrypt(text: string): { encrypted: string; iv: string; tag: string } {
  const iv = crypto.randomBytes(16);
  const cipher = crypto.createCipheriv(ALGORITHM, KEY, iv);
  
  let encrypted = cipher.update(text, 'utf8', 'hex');
  encrypted += cipher.final('hex');
  
  return {
    encrypted,
    iv: iv.toString('hex'),
    tag: cipher.getAuthTag().toString('hex'),
  };
}

function decrypt(encrypted: string, iv: string, tag: string): string {
  const decipher = crypto.createDecipheriv(ALGORITHM, KEY, Buffer.from(iv, 'hex'));
  decipher.setAuthTag(Buffer.from(tag, 'hex'));
  
  let decrypted = decipher.update(encrypted, 'hex', 'utf8');
  decrypted += decipher.final('utf8');
  
  return decrypted;
}
```

### Secure Headers
```typescript
import helmet from 'helmet';

app.use(helmet());
app.use(helmet.hsts({ maxAge: 31536000, includeSubDomains: true }));
app.use(helmet.contentSecurityPolicy({
  directives: {
    defaultSrc: ["'self'"],
    scriptSrc: ["'self'", "'strict-dynamic'"],
    styleSrc: ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
    imgSrc: ["'self'", 'data:', 'https:'],
    connectSrc: ["'self'"],
    fontSrc: ["'self'"],
    objectSrc: ["'none'"],
    frameAncestors: ["'none'"],
  },
}));
```

## A03: Injection

### SQL Injection Prevention
```typescript
// ❌ BAD: String concatenation
const query = `SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '${email}'`;

// ✅ GOOD: Parameterized queries
// With Prisma
const user = await prisma.user.findUnique({ where: { email } });

// With raw SQL (parameterized)
const user = await db.query('SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = $1', [email]);

// With Knex
const user = await knex('users').where({ email }).first();
```

### NoSQL Injection Prevention
```typescript
// ❌ BAD: Direct user input in query
const user = await User.findOne({ username: req.body.username });
// Attack: { "username": { "$gt": "" } } returns first user

// ✅ GOOD: Validate input type
import { z } from 'zod';

const loginSchema = z.object({
  username: z.string().min(3).max(50),
  password: z.string().min(8),
});

app.post('/login', async (req, res) => {
  const { username, password } = loginSchema.parse(req.body);
  const user = await User.findOne({ username: String(username) });
  // ...
});
```

### Command Injection Prevention
```typescript
import { execFile } from 'child_process';

// ❌ BAD: Shell injection
exec(`convert ${userInput} output.png`);  // userInput: "; rm -rf /"

// ✅ GOOD: Use execFile with array args
execFile('convert', [userInput, 'output.png'], (error, stdout) => {
  // Safe - arguments are not shell-interpreted
});

// ✅ GOOD: Validate and sanitize
const allowedFormats = ['png', 'jpg', 'gif'];
if (!allowedFormats.includes(format)) {
  throw new Error('Invalid format');
}
```

## A04: Insecure Design

### Rate Limiting
```typescript
import rateLimit from 'express-rate-limit';

// General rate limit
const limiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100, // 100 requests per window
  standardHeaders: true,
  legacyHeaders: false,
});

// Strict limit for auth endpoints
const authLimiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 60 * 60 * 1000, // 1 hour
  max: 5, // 5 failed attempts
  skipSuccessfulRequests: true,
});

app.use('/api/', limiter);
app.use('/api/auth/', authLimiter);
```

### Input Validation
```typescript
import { z } from 'zod';

const userSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  password: z.string()
    .min(8)
    .regex(/[A-Z]/, 'Must contain uppercase')
    .regex(/[a-z]/, 'Must contain lowercase')
    .regex(/[0-9]/, 'Must contain number')
    .regex(/[^A-Za-z0-9]/, 'Must contain special character'),
  age: z.number().int().min(13).max(120),
  role: z.enum(['user', 'admin']).default('user'),
});

app.post('/api/users', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const data = userSchema.parse(req.body);
    // Validated data is safe to use
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof z.ZodError) {
      return res.status(400).json({ errors: error.errors });
    }
    throw error;
  }
});
```

## A05: Security Misconfiguration

### Environment Configuration
```typescript
// ✅ Never expose stack traces in production
app.use((err: Error, req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) => {
  console.error(err.stack); // Log for debugging
  
  res.status(500).json({
    error: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' 
      ? 'Internal server error' 
      : err.message,
  });
});

// ✅ Disable sensitive headers
app.disable('x-powered-by');

// ✅ Secure cookie configuration
app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET!,
  cookie: {
    secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
    httpOnly: true,
    sameSite: 'strict',
    maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // 24 hours
  },
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
}));
```

## A06: Vulnerable Components

### Dependency Scanning
```bash
# Check for vulnerabilities
npm audit
npm audit fix

# Use Snyk for deeper scanning
npx snyk test
npx snyk monitor

# Keep dependencies updated
npx npm-check-updates -u
```

```json
// package.json - Use exact versions or ranges
{
  "dependencies": {
    "express": "^4.18.0",  // Minor updates OK
    "lodash": "4.17.21"    // Exact version
  },
  "overrides": {
    "vulnerable-package": "^2.0.0"  // Force safe version
  }
}
```

## A07: Authentication Failures

### Secure Session Management
```typescript
import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken';

// ✅ JWT with short expiry + refresh tokens
function generateTokens(userId: string) {
  const accessToken = jwt.sign(
    { userId },
    process.env.JWT_SECRET!,
    { expiresIn: '15m' }  // Short-lived
  );
  
  const refreshToken = jwt.sign(
    { userId, type: 'refresh' },
    process.env.JWT_REFRESH_SECRET!,
    { expiresIn: '7d' }
  );
  
  return { accessToken, refreshToken };
}

// ✅ Secure password reset
async function initiatePasswordReset(email: string) {
  const user = await db.users.findByEmail(email);
  if (!user) return; // Don't reveal if email exists
  
  const token = crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('hex');
  const hashedToken = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(token).digest('hex');
  
  await db.passwordResets.create({
    userId: user.id,
    token: hashedToken,
    expiresAt: new Date(Date.now() + 60 * 60 * 1000), // 1 hour
  });
  
  await sendEmail(email, `Reset link: /reset?token=${token}`);
}
```

### Multi-Factor Authentication
```typescript
import { authenticator } from 'otplib';
import QRCode from 'qrcode';

// Setup TOTP
async function setupMFA(userId: string) {
  const secret = authenticator.generateSecret();
  const otpauth = authenticator.keyuri(userId, 'MyApp', secret);
  const qrCode = await QRCode.toDataURL(otpauth);
  
  await db.users.update(userId, { mfaSecret: encrypt(secret) });
  
  return { qrCode, secret };
}

// Verify TOTP
function verifyMFA(token: string, secret: string): boolean {
  return authenticator.verify({ token, secret });
}
```

## A08: XSS Prevention

```typescript
// ✅ React auto-escapes by default
const UserProfile = ({ user }) => (
  <div>{user.name}</div>  // Safe - auto-escaped
);

// ⚠️ Dangerous - avoid if possible
<div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: sanitizedHtml }} />

// ✅ Sanitize HTML if needed
import DOMPurify from 'dompurify';

const sanitizedHtml = DOMPurify.sanitize(userHtml, {
  ALLOWED_TAGS: ['b', 'i', 'em', 'strong', 'a'],
  ALLOWED_ATTR: ['href'],
});

// ✅ Content Security Policy
app.use(helmet.contentSecurityPolicy({
  directives: {
    scriptSrc: ["'self'"],  // No inline scripts
    styleSrc: ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
  },
}));
```

## A09: Logging & Monitoring

```typescript
import winston from 'winston';

const logger = winston.createLogger({
  level: 'info',
  format: winston.format.combine(
    winston.format.timestamp(),
    winston.format.json()
  ),
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.File({ filename: 'error.log', level: 'error' }),
    new winston.transports.File({ filename: 'combined.log' }),
  ],
});

// ✅ Log security events
function logSecurityEvent(event: string, details: object) {
  logger.warn({
    type: 'security',
    event,
    ...details,
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
  });
}

// Usage
logSecurityEvent('failed_login', { email, ip: req.ip, userAgent: req.headers['user-agent'] });
logSecurityEvent('access_denied', { userId, resource, action });
logSecurityEvent('suspicious_activity', { userId, pattern: 'rapid_requests' });
```

## A10: SSRF Prevention

```typescript
import { URL } from 'url';

// ✅ Validate URLs against allowlist
const ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['api.example.com', 'cdn.example.com'];

function isAllowedUrl(urlString: string): boolean {
  try {
    const url = new URL(urlString);
    
    // Block private IPs
    const privatePatterns = [
      /^localhost$/i,
      /^127\./,
      /^10\./,
      /^172\.(1[6-9]|2[0-9]|3[01])\./,
      /^192\.168\./,
      /^0\./,
      /^169\.254\./,  // Link-local
    ];
    
    if (privatePatterns.some(p => p.test(url.hostname))) {
      return false;
    }
    
    // Check allowlist
    return ALLOWED_HOSTS.includes(url.hostname);
  } catch {
    return false;
  }
}

app.post('/api/fetch-url', async (req, res) => {
  const { url } = req.body;
  
  if (!isAllowedUrl(url)) {
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'URL not allowed' });
  }
  
  const response = await fetch(url);
  // ...
});
```

## Security Checklist

```markdown
## Pre-Deployment Checklist

### Authentication
- [ ] Passwords hashed with bcrypt (cost ≥ 12)
- [ ] JWT tokens have short expiry
- [ ] Session cookies are httpOnly, secure, sameSite
- [ ] Rate limiting on auth endpoints

### Authorization
- [ ] All endpoints have auth checks
- [ ] RBAC implemented correctly
- [ ] No IDOR vulnerabilities

### Input/Output
- [ ] All input validated with Zod/Joi
- [ ] SQL queries parameterized
- [ ] XSS prevented (CSP, escaping)
- [ ] File uploads validated and sandboxed

### Infrastructure
- [ ] HTTPS enforced
- [ ] Security headers configured
- [ ] Dependencies audited
- [ ] Secrets in environment variables

### Monitoring
- [ ] Security events logged
- [ ] Error monitoring enabled
- [ ] Alerts configured
```

## Resources

- **OWASP Top 10**: https://owasp.org/Top10/
- **OWASP Cheat Sheets**: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/
- **Node.js Security**: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/guides/security/
- **Snyk**: https://snyk.io/

Overview

This skill implements secure coding patterns based on the OWASP Top 10 to prevent common web application vulnerabilities. It provides pragmatic guidance, code patterns, and a pre-deployment checklist for authentication, authorization, input validation, cryptography, logging, and configuration hardening. Use it to harden APIs, login flows, and infrastructure before production deployment. The content is focused on actionable fixes and concrete examples you can apply immediately.

How this skill works

The skill inspects security concerns and recommends fixes for each OWASP Top 10 category: access control, cryptography, injection, insecure design, misconfiguration, vulnerable components, auth failures, XSS, logging, and SSRF. It supplies example code patterns (Node/Express, database queries, headers, token management), validation schemas, and operational controls such as rate limiting, dependency scanning, and secure cookie settings. It also offers a pre-deployment checklist and resources for deeper study.

When to use it

  • During threat modeling and secure design of new features.
  • When implementing or reviewing authentication and authorization flows.
  • Before releasing APIs that accept user input or external URLs.
  • When configuring production environments and security headers.
  • During dependency audits and incident response preparation.

Best practices

  • Enforce authentication and RBAC for every endpoint; verify ownership for resource access.
  • Use parameterized queries and validate input types to stop SQL/NoSQL injection.
  • Hash passwords with bcrypt (cost ≥ 12), use short-lived JWTs and refresh tokens.
  • Harden headers (CSP, HSTS) and secure cookies (httpOnly, secure, sameSite).
  • Scan and pin dependencies, run npm audit/Snyk, and apply overrides for vulnerable packages.

Example use cases

  • Secure an API endpoint by adding middleware that checks user identity and roles.
  • Replace raw SQL concatenation with parameterized queries using Prisma/Knex.
  • Implement rate limiting for auth endpoints to mitigate credential stuffing.
  • Add CSP and DOM sanitization to a React app to prevent XSS when rendering user HTML.
  • Validate external fetch URLs against an allowlist to prevent SSRF.

FAQ

Do I need to apply all OWASP Top 10 controls at once?

Prioritize controls based on risk: fix critical auth and injection issues first, then address configuration, dependencies, and monitoring. Use the pre-deployment checklist to stage improvements.

How should I handle secrets and encryption keys?

Keep secrets out of source control, load them from environment variables or a secrets manager, and use proven cryptographic libraries. Rotate keys and restrict access via IAM policies.