Frontend Security

Frontend Security Rules

CRITICAL: Token Storage

NEVER store tokens in localStorage or memory. Tokens are managed via HTTP-only cookies and sent automatically by the browser.

// ❌ FORBIDDEN
localStorage.setItem("token", jwt);
sessionStorage.setItem("token", jwt);
const token = "Bearer " + jwt;

// ✅ CORRECT: Cookies handle token transport automatically
// No token management code needed in frontend

CRITICAL: XSS Prevention

NEVER use innerHTML with untrusted content. Use framework bindings instead.

// ❌ FORBIDDEN
element.innerHTML = userInput;
this.renderer.setProperty(el, "innerHTML", data);

// ✅ CORRECT: Angular/React sanitizes automatically
<div>{userInput}</div>
<div [textContent]="userInput"></div>

Authorization

Guards are client-side only. Always enforce permissions on the backend.

Route Guards

Use route guards to control access to pages:

// ✅ Admin-only route
{
  path: 'admin',
  canActivate: [authenticatedGuard, roleGuard],
  data: { roles: ['admin'] }
}

// ✅ Multiple roles
{
  path: 'profile',
  canActivate: [authenticatedGuard, roleGuard],
  data: { roles: ['admin', 'user'] }
}

// ✅ Public routes: no guards
{ path: 'login', component: LoginComponent }

UI Role-Based Visibility

Hide unauthorized elements - never disable them. Users should not see actions they cannot perform.

// ✅ CORRECT: Hide unauthorized actions
<button *ngIf="isAdmin()" (click)="deleteUser()">
  Delete User
</button>

// ❌ WRONG: Showing disabled button
<button [disabled]="!isAdmin()">Delete</button>

External Links

ALWAYS use rel="noopener noreferrer" with target="_blank".

<!-- ❌ WRONG -->
<a href="https://external.com" target="_blank">Link</a>

<!-- ✅ CORRECT -->
<a href="https://external.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"
  >Link</a
>

Input Validation

• Validate all user input before use
• Sanitize HTML content from untrusted sources
• Use strict typing for all API inputs/outputs
• Mask sensitive data before logging

Error Handling

• Distinguish technical vs business errors
• NEVER expose raw HTTP errors or stack traces to the UI
• Show minimal, user-friendly error messages
• Use a logging service for error reporting (redact tokens, PII, and credentials)

Remember: UI security is for UX only. Backend must always enforce all security rules.

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