Business information leak - Customers or providers

Need

Protection of business information from unauthorized access or leakage

Context

Usage of TypeScript for statically typed JavaScript development
Usage of Express for building web applications and APIs

Description

Non compliant code

import express from 'express';

const app = express();

app.get('/customers', (req, res) => {
  const customers = [
    { id: 1, name: 'John Doe', email: '[email protected]' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Jane Smith', email: '[email protected]' },
    // ... additional customer data
  ];

  res.json(customers);
});

app.get('/providers', (req, res) => {
  const providers = [
    { id: 1, name: 'Provider A', email: '[email protected]' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Provider B', email: '[email protected]' },
    // ... additional provider data
  ];

  res.json(providers);
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

The vulnerability in this code is that it exposes sensitive information, such as customer and provider details, to anyone who accesses the corresponding endpoints ("/customers" and "/providers") without any authentication or authorization checks.

In the code, there are two route handlers defined for the endpoints "/customers" and "/providers". When a request is made to these endpoints, the server responds with JSON data containing customer and provider information, respectively.

This means that anyone who knows the URL of these endpoints can easily obtain sensitive information, including customer names, emails, and provider names, emails, etc. This can lead to the leakage of business-related information, which can be exploited by attackers to craft new attack vectors.

To mitigate this vulnerability, it is recommended to implement security controls to ensure that only authenticated and authorized users can access the sensitive information. This can be achieved by implementing authentication mechanisms, such as user login and session management, and authorization checks to verify if the user has the necessary privileges to access the data.

Steps

Implement authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure that only authenticated and authorized users can access the customer and provider data.
Create a user authentication system that allows users to register, login, and manage their credentials.
Implement access control mechanisms to restrict access to the '/customers' and '/providers' routes to only authenticated and authorized users.
Store sensitive information such as customer and provider data in a secure manner, such as encrypting the data at rest and in transit.
Consider implementing rate limiting and other security measures to prevent brute force attacks and unauthorized access attempts.
Regularly review and update the security controls to address any new vulnerabilities or emerging threats.

Compliant code

import express from 'express';
import bodyParser from 'body-parser';
import bcrypt from 'bcrypt';
import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken';

const app = express();
const saltRounds = 10;
const secretKey = 'your-secret-key';

app.use(bodyParser.json());

let users = [];

app.post('/register', (req, res) => {
  const { username, password } = req.body;
  const hashedPassword = bcrypt.hashSync(password, saltRounds);
  users.push({ username, password: hashedPassword });
  res.status(201).json({ message: 'User registered successfully' });
});

app.post('/login', (req, res) => {
  const { username, password } = req.body;
  const user = users.find((user) => user.username === username);
  if (!user || !bcrypt.compareSync(password, user.password)) {
    return res.status(401).json({ message: 'Invalid username or password' });
  }
  const token = jwt.sign({ username }, secretKey);
  res.json({ token });
});

function authenticate(req, res, next) {
  const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1];
  if (!token) {
    return res.status(401).json({ message: 'Missing token' });
  }
  try {
    const decoded = jwt.verify(token, secretKey);
    req.user = decoded;
    next();
  } catch (error) {
    return res.status(401).json({ message: 'Invalid token' });
  }
}

app.get('/customers', authenticate, (req, res) => {
  const customers = [
    { id: 1, name: 'John Doe', email: '[email protected]' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Jane Smith', email: '[email protected]' },
    // ... additional customer data
  ];
  res.json(customers);
});

app.get('/providers', authenticate, (req, res) => {
  const providers = [
    { id: 1, name: 'Provider A', email: '[email protected]' },
    { id: 2, name: 'Provider B', email: '[email protected]' },
    // ... additional provider data
  ];
  res.json(providers);
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

The fixed code addresses the vulnerability by implementing security controls to ensure that sensitive information can only be accessed by authenticated and authorized users.

The code uses the bcrypt library to securely hash and compare passwords. When a user registers, their password is hashed using bcrypt and stored in the users array.
The code uses the jsonwebtoken library to generate and verify JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). When a user logs in successfully, a JWT is generated with the user's username and signed with a secret key. This token is returned to the client.
The code defines an authenticate middleware function that is used to protect the /customers and /providers routes. This function checks for the presence of a JWT in the Authorization header of the request. If the token is missing or invalid, the middleware returns a 401 Unauthorized response. If the token is valid, the decoded username is attached to the request object for further processing.
The /customers and /providers routes are protected by the authenticate middleware. This means that a user must provide a valid JWT in order to access these routes. If the user is authenticated, the routes return the respective customer and provider data.
The code uses the express framework to handle HTTP requests and responses. It also uses the body-parser middleware to parse JSON request bodies.

By implementing these security controls, the fixed code ensures that only authenticated and authorized users can access sensitive information.

References

080.Business information leak - Customers or providers

Need​

Context​

Description​

Non compliant code​

Steps​

Compliant code​

References​