Introduction
Security is a crucial aspect of web development, and Node.js applications are no exception. Many of us ignore in phase of development of the application or complete the happy flow of the application, but it gives us pain later. We need to start secure the app from start, either it's headers, secure code, or anything. This reduces our post efforts.
Why we need to secure NodeJS apps
There may be n number of factors, whey we need. We have listed down few of the important points which force us to make the app secure. Let's see what are those factors.
1. Protecting User Data:
Application must protect the sensitive user's information from unauthorised access, such as personal details, login credentials, payment data, or confidential business insights. Failing to protect this sensitive user's information can cost you millions in fines from privacy regulators.
2. Safeguarding Application Functionality:
Security vulnerabilities can compromise the features of the application. Attackers may exploit weaknesses to alter the services, manipulate data, or inject malicious code. This may hamper the system and also the performance. Leading to recurring downtimes.
3. Preserving Reputation:
A security incident can seriously damage company's reputation. It may lead to loose the customers and customers using your services will no logger trust the company. It's very important for the small enterprises.
Following coding and architectural best practices is not enough in today's digital world.
Your Node.js project is not safe if its dependencies are not maintained well. Considering how popular it is to use external libraries, this is worrisome. According to the Snyk State of Open Source Security report, an average Node.js project has 50 vulnerabilities out of 70 direct dependencies.
5 Best practices to make NodeJS app secure
1. Avoide Running Node.js With Root Privileges
For a safer experience, it's a good idea to run Node.js without root privileges. Regardless of whether your backend is hosted on a dedicated server or in a Docker container, using a non-root user helps keep things secure and manageable!
It's important to be cautious when running Node.js with root privileges. If there are any vulnerabilities in your project or its dependencies, they could be taken advantage of by attackers, leading to unauthorized access to your system. This could result in issues like running unwanted code or accessing sensitive information. To keep your system safe, it's best to avoid using root access for Node.js applications.
2. Keep Your NPM Libraries Up To Date
NPM libraries are a great way to quickly build a powerful Node.js backend, but they can also come with some security concerns. As new vulnerabilities are discovered, it's the responsibility of the maintainers to patch them and release updates. So, staying on top of your dependencies is key to keeping your application safe and sound!.
To ensure the NPM libraries you are relying on are secure, you can use npm audit and snyk. These tools analyze your project’s dependencies tree and provide insights into any known vulnerabilities.
Here’s an example of running npm audit:
npm audit
...
found 10 vulnerabilities (6 low, 4 moderate)
run `npm audit fix` to fix them, or `npm audit` for details
Additionally you can you snyk to scan the dependencies as given below:
npm install -g snyk
In the root folder of your project, test your application with:
snyk test
To get started with fixing the vulnerabilities you've found, just open the friendly wizard that will guide you through the patching process by running:
snyk wizard
By using Snyk and frequently running npm audit, you can easily spot and resolve security issues in your NPM libraries before they escalate. Just keep in mind that the security of your application relies on the strength of all its dependencies, so it's always good to stay proactive!
3. Set the Security HTTP Headers
The default HTTP headers in Express are not very secure. We check header security with the online Security Headers project:
Here is where helmet comes into play! This library takes care of setting the most important security headers based on the recommendations from Security Headers.
Helmet helps secure your app by setting various HTTP headers, mitigating common web vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting (XSS), clickjacking, and other attacks.
Default Security Headers Set by Helmet Checkout how to use Helmet here.
Helmet sets the following headers automatically:
- Content-Security-Policy (CSP): Defines a whitelist of allowed content sources to prevent XSS attacks.
- Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy (COOP): Helps isolate the page’s process.
- Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy (CORP): Prevents other origins from loading resources.
- Origin-Agent-Cluster: Enables origin-based process isolation.
- Referrer-Policy: Controls the Referer header sent with requests.
- Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS): Enforces HTTPS connections.
- X-Content-Type-Options: Prevents browsers from MIME-type sniffing.
- X-DNS-Prefetch-Control: Disables DNS prefetching.
- X-Download-Options: Prevents automatic downloads in Internet Explorer.
- X-Frame-Options: Protects against clickjacking attacks.
- X-Permitted-Cross-Domain-Policies: Restricts cross-domain behavior for Adobe products.
- X-Powered-By: Removed to prevent attackers from identifying the technology used.
- X-XSS-Protection: Disabled, as it is outdated and can introduce vulnerabilities.
4. Validate User Input
Whenever users have the chance to provide input, it can sometimes lead to attackers trying to sneak in harmful data to the server. That’s why it’s really important to validate user input—it helps keep your Node.js application secure and running happily!Thanks to libraries like express-validator, you can enforce strict validation rules on the body and query parameters of incoming requests. Only data in the expected format will be allowed to pass through, avoiding unexpected behavior due to unforeseen input.
5. Ensure Strong Authentication Policies
To enhance the security of your Node.js application against attacks that target user authentication, it is crucial to establish stringent authentication protocols. Start by prompting users to create strong, unique passwords. Furthermore, implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) can significantly bolster security. MFA provides an additional layer of protection by requiring users to authenticate through various means, while SSO simplifies the login process and helps mitigate the risks associated with weak or repeated passwords.For securely storing passwords, it is advisable to use robust cryptographic algorithms such as bcrypt instead of relying on the hashing methods provided by the Node.js crypto library. This library offers a secure password-hashing technique that significantly increases the difficulty for attackers attempting to decipher passwords. Additionally, to prevent brute-force attacks, implement measures like rate limiting to control the number of unsuccessful login attempts, as previously discussed.
Also try to run NodeJs environment in production, when it is already deployed on cloud servers.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we examined various techniques for enhancing the security of Node.js applications in a production setting. It is our responsibility as developers to safeguard user data, ensure the proper functioning of our applications, and maintain our reputations. By applying these methods, strategies, and insights, you can develop a more secure Node.js architecture, reducing potential threats and protecting your application’s integrity.
Hope you find this helpful!!
For our consulting drop mail to [email protected], we do test vulnerabilities in application.
Best Practices for Securing Node.js Applications in Production