We take the security of our E-Commerce API seriously. This document outlines our security practices, known vulnerabilities, and how to report security issues.

Note: Only the latest major version receives security updates.

If you discover a security vulnerability, please DO NOT create a public GitHub issue. Instead:

1. Email us directly: security@yourcompany.com
2. Include the following information:
   • Description of the vulnerability
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Potential impact
   • Suggested fix (if any)
   • Your contact information

• Acknowledgment: Within 48 hours
• Initial Assessment: Within 5 business days
• Status Updates: Every 7 days until resolved
• Resolution Timeline: Critical issues within 30 days

• We request 90 days before public disclosure
• We will credit reporters (unless anonymity requested)
• Severe vulnerabilities may be disclosed earlier if actively exploited

// Token Configuration
JWT_SECRET: Minimum 32 characters, randomly generated
JWT_EXPIRE: 7 days (configurable)
Algorithm: HS256

Best Practices:

• ✅ Tokens are signed and verified
• ✅ Tokens expire after set period
• ✅ Secret keys stored in environment variables
• ✅ Tokens required for protected routes
• ⚠️ Never commit JWT secrets to version control

// Bcrypt Configuration
Salt Rounds: 12
Algorithm: bcrypt
Min Length: 6 characters (increase in production)

Implementation:

• ✅ Passwords hashed before storage
• ✅ Original passwords never stored
• ✅ Password field excluded from queries by default
• ✅ Secure password comparison using bcrypt.compare()

Recommendations:

• Enforce minimum 8 characters in production
• Require mixed case, numbers, and special characters
• Implement password strength meter on frontend
• Add password history to prevent reuse

// Default Configuration
Window: 15 minutes (900000ms)
Max Requests: 100 per window per IP

Protection Against:

• Brute force attacks
• DDoS attacks
• Credential stuffing
• API abuse

Configuration:

// Adjust in .env
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=900000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=100

Enabled protections:

• ✅ Content Security Policy (CSP)
• ✅ X-Frame-Options (clickjacking prevention)
• ✅ X-Content-Type-Options (MIME sniffing prevention)
• ✅ Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS)
• ✅ X-XSS-Protection
• ✅ Referrer-Policy

// Default: Allow all origins in development
// Production: Whitelist specific domains
const corsOptions = {
  origin: process.env.CLIENT_URL || '*',
  credentials: true
};

Production Recommendation:

CLIENT_URL=https://yourdomain.com

All user inputs validated before processing:

// Example: Registration validation
{
  name: String (2-50 chars)
  email: Valid email format, unique
  password: Minimum 6 chars
}

Protected Against:

• SQL Injection (NoSQL injection via MongoDB)
• XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
• Invalid data types
• Buffer overflow
• Code injection

Additional validation at database level:

• Type checking
• Required fields
• Min/max values
• Enum constraints
• Custom validators

Never Exposed:

• ❌ Passwords (hashed, select: false)
• ❌ JWT secrets
• ❌ Stripe secret keys
• ❌ Database credentials

Excluded from Responses:

// User password excluded by default
userSchema: {
  password: { select: false }
}

// Explicit exclusion in queries
User.findById(id).select('-password')

Stripe Integration:

• ✅ PCI-DSS compliant
• ✅ Server-side payment processing
• ✅ No card data stored in database
• ✅ Secure payment intents
• ✅ Test mode for development

Never Store:

• Credit card numbers
• CVV codes
• Full card details

Risk: Exposed secrets in version control

Mitigation:

• ✅ .env in .gitignore
• ✅ .env.example provided (no real values)
• ✅ Documented in README

Action Required:

# Never commit
git rm --cached .env
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Risk: NoSQL injection attacks

Mitigation:

• ✅ Mongoose sanitization
• ✅ Joi input validation
• ✅ Type checking on schemas
• ✅ No direct string concatenation in queries

Safe Query Example:

// ✅ Safe
User.findOne({ email: req.body.email })

// ❌ Unsafe (avoided)
User.findOne({ email: { $ne: null } })

Risk: Malicious scripts in user input

Mitigation:

• ✅ Input validation with Joi
• ✅ Output encoding
• ✅ Content Security Policy (Helmet)
• ✅ MongoDB escaping

Recommendation:

• Sanitize HTML in product descriptions
• Implement frontend XSS protection

Risk: Unauthorized actions on behalf of authenticated users

Current Status: ⚠️ Not implemented (stateless JWT API)

Mitigation:

• JWT tokens provide implicit CSRF protection
• No cookies used for authentication
• For cookie-based sessions: Implement CSRF tokens

Risk: Multiple login attempts to guess passwords

Mitigation:

• ✅ Rate limiting (100 requests per 15 min)
• ✅ Strong password hashing (bcrypt)

Additional Recommendations:

• Implement account lockout after N failed attempts
• Add CAPTCHA after 3 failed attempts
• Log suspicious activity

Current Implementation: Stateless JWT

Considerations:

• ✅ No server-side session storage needed
• ✅ Scalable across multiple servers
• ⚠️ Cannot invalidate tokens before expiry

Recommendations:

• Implement token blacklist for logout
• Add refresh token mechanism
• Consider Redis for token management

Current Status: ⚠️ Not implemented

If Adding File Upload:

• Validate file types (whitelist)
• Limit file sizes
• Scan for malware
• Store files outside web root
• Use cloud storage (S3, Cloudinary)
• Generate unique filenames

# Environment
NODE_ENV=production

# Strong Secrets (32+ characters)
JWT_SECRET=use_a_long_random_string_min_32_chars_here

# Database (with authentication)
MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://user:password@cluster.mongodb.net/db

# Stripe Live Keys
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_your_live_key_here

# Strict Rate Limiting
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=900000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX_REQUESTS=50

# CORS (specific domain)
CLIENT_URL=https://yourdomain.com

Always use HTTPS in production:

// Behind Nginx/Apache
app.set('trust proxy', 1);

// Or using Express HTTPS
const https = require('https');
const fs = require('fs');

const options = {
  key: fs.readFileSync('private-key.pem'),
  cert: fs.readFileSync('certificate.pem')
};

https.createServer(options, app).listen(443);

• Change all default credentials
• Generate strong JWT secret (32+ chars)
• Use production Stripe keys
• Enable HTTPS/SSL
• Configure CORS with specific domain
• Set NODE_ENV=production
• Review and tighten rate limits
• Enable database authentication
• Set up database backups
• Configure logging and monitoring
• Remove console.log statements
• Update dependencies to latest versions
• Run security audit: npm audit
• Test all endpoints with security tools
• Set up error monitoring (Sentry)
• Configure firewall rules
• Implement IP whitelisting for admin routes

# Check for known vulnerabilities
npm audit

# Fix vulnerabilities automatically
npm audit fix

# Force fix (may introduce breaking changes)
npm audit fix --force

# Test without token
curl -X GET http://localhost:5000/api/auth/profile

# Test with invalid token
curl -X GET http://localhost:5000/api/auth/profile \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer invalid_token"

# Test with expired token
# (Wait for token expiration or manually create expired token)

# SQL Injection attempt
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"admin@example.com","password":"\" OR \"1\"=\"1"}'

# XSS attempt
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"<script>alert(\"XSS\")</script>","email":"test@test.com","password":"pass123"}'

# Send 101 requests rapidly
for i in {1..101}; do
  curl -X GET http://localhost:5000/api/products
done
# Should return 429 after 100 requests

# Try accessing admin route as regular user
curl -X GET http://localhost:5000/api/admin/users \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer user_token"
# Should return 403 Forbidden

Recommended: Winston Logger

const winston = require('winston');

const logger = winston.createLogger({
  level: 'info',
  format: winston.format.json(),
  transports: [
    new winston.transports.File({ filename: 'error.log', level: 'error' }),
    new winston.transports.File({ filename: 'security.log', level: 'warn' })
  ]
});

// Log security events
logger.warn('Failed login attempt', { 
  email: req.body.email, 
  ip: req.ip,
  timestamp: new Date()
});

• ❗ Failed login attempts (multiple from same IP)
• ❗ Invalid token usage
• ❗ Rate limit exceeded
• ❗ Admin route access attempts
• ❗ Database connection failures
• ❗ Payment failures
• ❗ Unusual order patterns

• Critical: Patch within 24 hours
• High: Patch within 7 days
• Medium: Patch within 30 days
• Low: Include in next regular release

# Check outdated packages
npm outdated

# Update all dependencies
npm update

# Update to latest (including major versions)
npx npm-check-updates -u
npm install

Recommended Schedule:

• Security patches: Immediately
• Minor updates: Monthly
• Major updates: Quarterly (with testing)

• npm audit - Vulnerability scanning
• Snyk - Continuous security monitoring
• OWASP ZAP - Security testing
• Helmet - HTTP security headers
• express-rate-limit - Rate limiting
• Joi - Input validation

• OWASP Top 10
• Node.js Security Checklist
• Express Security Best Practices

For security issues only:

• Email: security@yourcompany.com
• PGP Key: [Link to public key]

Response Time:

• Critical: Within 24 hours
• High: Within 48 hours
• Medium/Low: Within 5 business days

We thank the following individuals for responsibly disclosing security vulnerabilities:

• No vulnerabilities reported yet

• Enhanced JWT security
• Rate limiting implementation
• Helmet security headers
• Input validation with Joi
• Stripe payment security

Last Updated: October 2025

Note: This is a living document. Security practices and policies are regularly reviewed and updated.