Spring Security

Spring Security

Scope

Apply this skill when working on:

• authentication and authorization
• Spring Security configuration
• API endpoint protection
• JWT or session-based security
• secure API design
• handling sensitive data

Security Configuration

• Use Spring Security filter chain configuration.
• Prefer explicit configuration over defaults.
• Deny by default; explicitly allow public endpoints.
• Clearly separate public vs protected routes.

Authentication

• Prefer stateless JWT or secure session-based authentication.
• Extract and validate tokens using filters (e.g., OncePerRequestFilter).
• Store tokens securely:
  • Prefer httpOnly cookies for browser apps
  • Avoid exposing tokens to JavaScript when possible
• Never store or log raw credentials.

Authorization

• Enable method-level security (@EnableMethodSecurity).
• Use annotations like:
  • @PreAuthorize("hasRole('ADMIN')")
  • @PreAuthorize("@authz.isOwner(#id)")
• Enforce authorization at:
  • controller level (entry point)
  • service layer (critical logic)
• Always verify ownership or permissions before actions.

HTTP Semantics & API Security

• Use correct status codes:
  • 401 → unauthenticated
  • 403 → authenticated but not authorized
• Never return 200 for security failures.
• Do not leak internal details in responses.
• Keep error responses consistent and minimal.

Input Validation

• Validate all incoming data using Bean Validation (@Valid).
• Apply constraints:
  • @NotBlank, @Email, @Size, etc.
• Prefer allowlist validation.
• Reject invalid data early at API boundary.

Injection Prevention

• Never concatenate SQL queries.
• Use:
  • Spring Data JPA
  • parameterized queries
• Avoid passing raw user input into execution contexts.

Password & Credential Handling

• Always hash passwords using:
  • BCrypt or Argon2
• Never store plaintext passwords.
• Use PasswordEncoder bean.

CSRF Protection

• For browser-based apps:
  • Keep CSRF enabled
  • include CSRF tokens
• For stateless APIs:
  • disable CSRF
  • rely on JWT/Bearer tokens

CORS Configuration

• Configure CORS centrally (not per controller).
• Never use wildcard (*) in production.
• Restrict origins to trusted domains only.

Security Headers

Always configure headers such as:

• Content-Security-Policy
• X-Frame-Options
• X-Content-Type-Options
• Referrer-Policy

These reduce XSS, clickjacking, and injection risks.

Secrets Management

• Never hardcode secrets in code or config.
• Use:
  • environment variables
  • secret managers (Vault, cloud providers)
• Rotate credentials regularly.
• Do not expose secrets in logs or errors.

Rate Limiting & Abuse Protection

• Apply rate limiting to API endpoints.
• Protect:
  • authentication endpoints
  • expensive operations
• Return HTTP 429 when limits are exceeded.

Logging & Sensitive Data

• Never log:
  • passwords
  • tokens
  • secrets
• Log:
  • authentication attempts
  • authorization failures
• Keep logs structured and safe.

File Upload Security

• Validate:
  • file size
  • file type
  • file extension
• Store files outside web root.
• Avoid executing uploaded content.

Dependency Security

• Keep dependencies up to date.
• Scan for vulnerabilities (OWASP, Snyk).
• Do not use outdated Spring Security versions.

Cloud & Infrastructure Awareness

• Follow least privilege principle for access control.
• Store secrets in managed services.
• Enable logging and monitoring.
• Avoid exposing services publicly unless required.

Common Pitfalls

• Missing authorization checks
• Incorrect HTTP status codes
• Hardcoded secrets
• Logging sensitive data
• Using string-based SQL queries
• Overly permissive CORS
• Disabled security headers

Output Expectations

When generating security-related code:

• configure Spring Security explicitly
• secure all endpoints by default
• validate all inputs
• use proper HTTP status codes
• avoid security anti-patterns
• highlight potential vulnerabilities if detected