Phishing
Need
Enhanced protection against phishing attacks
Context
- Usage of Go 1.16 for building efficient and scalable applications
- Usage of gin-gonic/gin for building web applications in Go
Description
Non compliant code
package main
import (
"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
)
func main() {
r := gin.Default()
r.POST("/login", func(c *gin.Context) {
var loginInfo Login
if err := c.ShouldBindJSON(&loginInfo); err != nil {
c.JSON(400, gin.H{"message": "Bad request"})
return
}
// Authenticate user
isAuthenticated := authenticateUser(loginInfo)
if !isAuthenticated {
c.JSON(401, gin.H{"message": "Unauthorized"})
return
}
c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "Login successful"})
})
r.Run()
}
type Login struct {
Email string `json:"email"`
Password string `json:"password"`
}
func authenticateUser(login Login) bool {
// Simulate user authentication
return login.Email == "[email protected]" && login.Password == "password"
}
This code represents a simple login endpoint in a Go application using the Gin framework. The /login
route accepts POST requests with a JSON body containing email
and password
fields. This data is unmarshalled into a Login
struct and then passed to the authenticateUser
function.
The vulnerability lies in the fact that there is no protection against phishing attacks. An attacker could create a phishing site that mimics this login page, tricking users into entering their credentials. The phishing site then sends a POST request to the /login
route with the phished credentials, effectively logging in as the unsuspecting user.
There are no mechanisms in place to verify that the login request is coming from a trusted source, such as a secure token or a captcha. Furthermore, there is no rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks, and no multi-factor authentication to provide an additional layer of security. All these factors make the application susceptible to phishing attacks.
Steps
- Implement secure email communication protocols, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, to prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks.
- Educate users about phishing attacks and how to identify and report suspicious emails.
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security to user logins.
- Use secure password storage mechanisms, such as hashing and salting, to protect user passwords.
- Implement SSL/TLS encryption to secure communication between the client and the server.
- Regularly update and patch the application and its dependencies to fix any known security vulnerabilities.
- Implement input validation and sanitization to prevent malicious input from being processed.
- Implement rate limiting and account lockout mechanisms to prevent brute-force attacks.
- Implement session management and enforce session expiration to prevent session hijacking.
- Implement secure coding practices, such as avoiding the use of deprecated or insecure functions and libraries.
- Regularly monitor and log application activities to detect and respond to potential security incidents.
- Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and fix any vulnerabilities in the application.
Compliant code
package main
import (
"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions"
"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions/cookie"
"golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt"
)
func main() {
r := gin.Default()
store := cookie.NewStore([]byte("secret"))
r.Use(sessions.Sessions("mysession", store))
r.POST("/login", func(c *gin.Context) {
session := sessions.Default(c)
var loginInfo Login
if err := c.ShouldBindJSON(&loginInfo); err != nil {
c.JSON(400, gin.H{"message": "Bad request"})
return
}
// Authenticate user
isAuthenticated, err := authenticateUser(loginInfo)
if err != nil || !isAuthenticated {
c.JSON(401, gin.H{"message": "Unauthorized"})
return
}
session.Set("user", loginInfo.Email)
session.Save()
c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "Login successful"})
})
r.Run()
}
type Login struct {
Email string `json:"email"`
Password string `json:"password"`
}
func authenticateUser(login Login) (bool, error) {
// Simulate user authentication
hashedPassword, _ := bcrypt.GenerateFromPassword([]byte("password"), bcrypt.DefaultCost)
err := bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword(hashedPassword, []byte(login.Password))
return login.Email == "[email protected]" && err == nil, err
}
The updated code includes several security enhancements to mitigate the risk of phishing attacks:
-
Session Management: The application now uses the
sessions
middleware from thegin-contrib/sessions
package to manage user sessions. This helps prevent session hijacking by associating each session with a unique, secure session ID. -
Secure Password Storage: The
bcrypt
package fromgolang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt
is used to securely hash and salt user passwords. This ensures that even if an attacker manages to obtain the password data, they cannot reverse-engineer the original password. -
User Authentication: The
authenticateUser
function now uses thebcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword
function to compare the hashed version of the user-provided password with the stored hashed password. This is a more secure method of password comparison that mitigates the risk of timing attacks.
Please note that this code is a starting point and does not include all the recommended security measures. For example, it does not implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), input validation and sanitization, rate limiting, account lockout mechanisms, or secure email communication protocols. These additional measures should be implemented as part of a comprehensive security strategy.