Security Audit

Security Audit Skill

Proactive security assessment covering OWASP Top 10, dependency vulnerabilities, secrets detection, and security best practices.

When to Use

Audit Scope

Full Audit

Complete security review across all categories. Time: 2-4 hours.

Focused Audit

Target specific area (e.g., authentication only). Time: 30-60 minutes.

Quick Scan

Automated checks only (dependencies, secrets). Time: 5-10 minutes.

Prerequisites

Before starting audit:

• Access to codebase and dependencies
• Access to environment configuration (sanitized)
• List of external services/APIs used
• Authentication flow documentation (if exists)
• Previous audit reports (if available)

Audit Process

Phase 1: OWASP Top 10 Review
    ↓
Phase 2: Dependency Vulnerability Scan
    ↓
Phase 3: Secrets Detection
    ↓
Phase 4: Input Validation Audit
    ↓
Phase 5: Authentication & Authorization
    ↓
Phase 6: API Security
    ↓
Phase 7: Report & Remediation

Phase 1: OWASP Top 10 Review

Quick Reference

For detailed patterns and examples: See references/process.md

Critical Checks

A01 - Broken Access Control:

- [ ] All endpoints have authorization checks
- [ ] RBAC implemented
- [ ] No direct object reference vulnerabilities
- [ ] Privilege escalation prevented

A02 - Cryptographic Failures:

- [ ] Passwords hashed with bcrypt/argon2 (cost 10+)
- [ ] TLS 1.2+ enforced
- [ ] Sensitive data encrypted at rest
- [ ] Cryptographically random tokens

A03 - Injection:

- [ ] SQL queries use parameterized statements
- [ ] Template engines auto-escape output
- [ ] No shell command execution with user input
- [ ] NoSQL queries sanitized

A05 - Security Misconfiguration:

Required Headers:
- X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
- X-Frame-Options: DENY
- Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'
- Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000

Phase 2: Dependency Vulnerability Scan

Run Audit Commands

# Node.js
npm audit
npm audit --audit-level=moderate

# Python
pip-audit
# Or: safety check --json > audit-report.json

# Go
govulncheck ./...

# Rust
cargo audit

# Ruby
bundle audit check

Severity Response

Phase 3: Secrets Detection

Automated Scanning

# Using gitleaks (recommended)
gitleaks detect --source . --verbose

# Using git-secrets
git secrets --scan
git secrets --scan-history

# Using truffleHog
trufflehog filesystem .

Common Secret Patterns

Environment Variables

Checklist:
- [ ] All secrets in environment variables (not code)
- [ ] .env files in .gitignore
- [ ] No .env files in git history
- [ ] Secure defaults for all variables

Phase 4: Input Validation Audit

Input Sources by Risk

Validation Checklist

For each input:

• Schema validation (Zod, Pydantic, etc.)
• Type checking enforced
• Length/size limits
• Format validation (email, URL)
• Allowlist when possible
• Sanitized for output context

File Upload Requirements

- [ ] Magic bytes validation (not just extension)
- [ ] Size limits enforced
- [ ] Virus/malware scanning
- [ ] Storage outside web root
- [ ] Randomized filenames
- [ ] No executable permissions

Phase 5: Authentication & Authorization

Password Security

- [ ] Min length: 12+ characters
- [ ] Bcrypt (cost 10+) or argon2
- [ ] No passwords in logs/errors
- [ ] Rate limiting on login
- [ ] Account lockout policy

Session Security

- [ ] HttpOnly cookie flag
- [ ] Secure cookie flag (HTTPS)
- [ ] SameSite attribute
- [ ] Session timeout
- [ ] Invalidation on logout
- [ ] Regenerate on privilege change

Authorization

- [ ] Check on every endpoint
- [ ] RBAC implemented
- [ ] Least privilege
- [ ] Deny by default
- [ ] Server-side validation

Token Security (JWT/OAuth)

- [ ] Strong algorithm (RS256, ES256)
- [ ] Token expiration
- [ ] Refresh mechanism
- [ ] Revocation capability
- [ ] No sensitive data in payload

Phase 6: API Security

Rate Limiting

- [ ] Enabled on all endpoints
- [ ] Stricter on auth endpoints
- [ ] Per-user and per-IP
- [ ] Graduated response

CORS

// Secure configuration
{
  origin: ['https://app.example.com'],  // Not '*'
  credentials: true,
  methods: ['GET', 'POST', 'PUT', 'DELETE']
}

Error Handling

- [ ] Generic messages to clients
- [ ] Details in logs only
- [ ] No stack traces in production
- [ ] Consistent format

Phase 7: Report & Remediation

Report Template

# Security Audit Report

**Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Auditor**: [Name]
**Scope**: [Full/Focused/Quick]
**Duration**: [Hours]

## Executive Summary

| Severity | Count | Status |
|----------|-------|--------|
| Critical | N | [Status] |
| High | N | [Status] |
| Medium | N | [Status] |
| Low | N | [Status] |

**Overall Risk**: [Low/Medium/High/Critical]

## Findings

### [Severity]: [Issue Title]
**Location**: [File:Line]
**Description**: [Brief description]
**Impact**: [Potential impact]
**Remediation**: [How to fix]
**Timeline**: [When to fix]

## Recommendations

1. [Recommendation 1]
2. [Recommendation 2]

## Tools Used

- [Tool 1]
- [Tool 2]

Priority Matrix

Follow-up

• Create tickets for findings
• Schedule remediation
• Plan re-audit
• Update documentation
• Brief team

Quick Scan Commands

# Node.js
npm audit && npx gitleaks detect

# Python
pip-audit && gitleaks detect

# Go
govulncheck ./... && gitleaks detect

# Rust
cargo audit && gitleaks detect

Summary Checklist

OWASP Top 10

• A01: Broken Access Control
• A02: Cryptographic Failures
• A03: Injection
• A04: Insecure Design
• A05: Security Misconfiguration
• A06: Vulnerable Components
• A07: Authentication Failures
• A08: Data Integrity Failures
• A09: Logging Failures
• A10: SSRF

Core Security

• Dependencies scanned
• Secrets detection run
• Input validation checked
• Auth/authz reviewed
• API security validated
• Security headers set

Additional Resources

Extended Content:

• references/process.md - Detailed vulnerability patterns, code examples, language-specific guidance

Related Workflows:

• code-review.md - Includes security checks
• dependency-update.md - Safe dependency updates
• troubleshooting.md - Security incident response

Remember: Security is continuous. Integrate automated scanning into CI/CD, conduct regular reviews, and maintain security-first development practices.