Security Audit

Overview

Systematic security review covering OWASP Top 10, dependency vulnerabilities, secrets, and secure patterns.

Process

Phase 1: SCAN      -> Automated scans (deps, secrets, patterns)
Phase 2: ANALYZE   -> Manual review of high-risk areas
Phase 3: CLASSIFY  -> Rate findings by severity
Phase 4: RECOMMEND -> Propose fixes with priority

Phase 1: Automated Scans

Dependency Vulnerabilities

# JavaScript/TypeScript
npm audit

# Python
uv run pip-audit

# Rust
cargo audit

Secrets Detection

Search for hardcoded secrets using Grep:

Patterns to search for:
- API keys: long alphanumeric strings in config files
- Credentials: password/token/secret assignments with literal values
- Cloud provider keys: AWS access key patterns (starts with AKIA)
- Private key headers: PEM format key blocks
- Connection strings: database URIs containing embedded credentials
- .env files: verify .env is listed in .gitignore

Use Grep tool to search for these patterns across the codebase. Focus on:

• Configuration files (.config., *.yml, *.yaml, *.json, *.toml)
• Source code with string assignments to variables named key, secret, token, password
• Environment variable files that should NOT be committed

Dangerous Code Patterns

Search with Grep for:

Pattern	Risk	What to Search
eval/exec	Code injection	eval(, exec(, Function(
SQL concatenation	SQL injection	String concatenation in SQL queries
Shell execution	Command injection	subprocess.call, os.system, child_process.exec
Unsafe HTML	XSS	dangerouslySetInnerHTML, innerHTML =, v-html
Unsafe deserialization	RCE	pickle.load, yaml.load without SafeLoader
Open redirect	Phishing	Redirects using user-controlled input
Path traversal	File access	../ patterns in user-controlled paths

Phase 2: Manual Review

OWASP Top 10 Checklist

#	Vulnerability	What to Check
A01	Broken Access Control	Auth middleware on all routes, RBAC, CORS
A02	Cryptographic Failures	TLS, proper password hashing (bcrypt/argon2), no weak hashing for passwords
A03	Injection	SQL parameterized queries, XSS escaping, command injection
A04	Insecure Design	Business logic flaws, missing rate limiting
A05	Security Misconfiguration	Default credentials, verbose errors in prod, CORS wildcard
A06	Vulnerable Components	Outdated deps, known CVEs
A07	Auth Failures	Session management, brute force protection, MFA
A08	Data Integrity	Unsigned updates, CI/CD pipeline security
A09	Logging Failures	Missing audit logs, PII in logs
A10	SSRF	Unvalidated URLs, internal network access

Authentication Review

Check:
- Password storage    -> bcrypt/argon2 (NOT md5/sha1/sha256)
- Session management  -> Secure, HttpOnly, SameSite cookies
- JWT                 -> Algorithm validation, expiry, refresh tokens
- Rate limiting       -> Login attempts, API endpoints
- CORS                -> Not wildcard for authenticated routes
- CSRF                -> Tokens on state-changing operations

Input Validation Review

Check:
- User inputs         -> Validated and sanitized at entry
- File uploads        -> Type validation, size limits, no path traversal
- API parameters      -> Schema validation (zod, pydantic, joi)
- Database queries    -> Parameterized, no string concatenation
- Redirects           -> Whitelist-only destinations

Phase 3: Classify Findings

Severity	Criteria	Action
CRITICAL	Remote code execution, auth bypass, data leak	Fix immediately
HIGH	XSS, SQL injection, broken access control	Fix before deploy
MEDIUM	Missing headers, weak validation, info disclosure	Fix soon
LOW	Best practice violations, minor misconfigs	Plan fix
INFO	Suggestions, hardening opportunities	Optional

Phase 4: Report

## Security Audit Report

**Scope**: [files/directories audited]
**Date**: [date]

### Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences: overall posture, critical findings count]

### Findings

#### CRITICAL
| # | Finding | File:Line | Description | Fix |
|---|---------|-----------|-------------|-----|
| 1 | [type] | path:42 | [detail] | [remediation] |

#### HIGH
| # | Finding | File:Line | Description | Fix |
|---|---------|-----------|-------------|-----|

#### MEDIUM
[...]

#### LOW
[...]

### Dependency Audit
| Package | Version | Vulnerability | Severity | Fix Version |
|---------|---------|---------------|----------|-------------|

### Positive Security Practices Found
- [What's already well done]

### Recommendations (Priority Order)
1. **[Action]** -- Addresses [finding], estimated effort: [S/M/L]
2. **[Action]** -- Addresses [finding], estimated effort: [S/M/L]

### Confidence: [LEVEL]
[Based on scope coverage and tool results]

Rules

• Scan ALL files, not just the ones mentioned
• Never ignore a finding because it seems unlikely
• Provide concrete fix code, not just descriptions
• Check .gitignore for excluded sensitive files
• Verify secrets are in environment variables, not code
• Flag false positives clearly to avoid noise
• Don't create security vulnerabilities while demonstrating fixes