Top 10 Node.js Security Best Practices

Node.js is a Javascript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 Javascript engine. It is widely used for building scalable and lightweight network-driven applications. It can be scaled up easily horizontally as well as vertically. Apps development with Node.js are used for both client-side and server-side apps. It has an open-source Javascript runtime environment/ model which provides caching of single modules. Similar to the other programming languages or frameworks, node.js is susceptible to each type of web app exposure. Though the Node.js is secure, third-party packages may require more security standards to protect your app. According to the study, 14% of NPM ecosystem is impacted and 54% of the NPM ecosystem is about to be impacted indirectly. Here we’ll see the top 10 best practices for node.js security. But before going to the security best practices, let see, why do node.js projects have security issues?

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Why Do Node.js Projects Have Security Issues?

Open-source apps derive licensing and security risks from their open-source elements. Also, the security detecting tools like static and dynamic code assessment cannot detect open-source exposures efficiently.

To detect open-source elements in Node.js, you need to assess the NPM index files which explain the dependencies. All things considered, these index files don’t incorporate reused open-source elements. Some of the time, open-source community open-source projects to lower time-to-market, speed-up development and add functionality. As a result, developers can launch code snippets, functions and techniques into files. Also lots of node.js web development projects include licensing terms other than real Node.js license.

Top 10 Node.js Security Risks And Solution Practices-

Node.js security issues can show you vulnerabilities like code injection and advanced constant threats. Let us see a list of Node.js security risks that may cause these vulnerabilities and its possible solution practices.

1. Validate User Input To Limit SQL Injections And XSS Attacks-
Cross-site scripting or XSS lets hackers to infect vulnerable client-side scripts into website pages viewed by various users. Vulnerable client-side scripts can cause data breaches. Also the hacker can use Javascript code. Reason for this is not validating input from users. So, whatever users type in the search field, if doesn’t discovered in the database, it will be sent back to them in the same old form. So, if a hacker puts JS code instead of the product name in the search bar, he can execute a similar JS code.

Solution-
One can validate user input. To prevent XSS attacks in Node.js, one can use output encoding methods or tools like Jade engine with in-built encoding frameworks. You can also opt for, XSS-filters or Validatorjs for this.

2. Implement Strong Authentication-
Having weak, broken or incomplete authentication mechanism is a next most common vulnerability. Mostly it is because, may developers think about authentication as “we have it, so we’re secure”. In fact, weak or inconsistent authentication is easy to bypass.

Solution-
One solution is to use authentication solutions like OAuth or Okta. If you prefer to stick with Native Node.js authentication solutions, you have to know some things. When you create passwords, don’t use Node.js built-in crypto library, use Bcrypt or Scrypt. Ensure to limit failed login attempts, and don’t tell the user if it’s username or password that is incorrect. Rather, return a generic “incorrect credentials” error. Also, you need proper session management policies. Instead, return a generic “incorrect credentials” error. Also, you require proper session management policies. And be sure to implement 2FA authentication. If it all done in a proper manner, it can increase security of app to the next level. You can so it with modules like node-2fa or speakeasy.

3. Avoid Data Leaks-
It is easy to send all data for a particular object to the frontend and just filter what to show there. Also, attackers can easily get hidden data sent from the backend. For instance, imagine that you want to show a list of users who signed up for an event. You execute a SQL query to get all users for that particular event and send those data to the frontend, and there you filter it to just show the first and last name. But all the data you don’t want to show is easy to access through the browser developer console. This causes data seaks.

Solution-
Only send the data that is required. If you just need first and last names, retrieve just those from the database. It creates more work, but it’s worth it.

4. Regularly Scan Apps Automatically for Vulnerability-
Node.js ecosystem contains some libraries and modules to install. Generally, most of them can be used in your projects. It produces a security risk. You cannot be completely sure that it’s secure while using code written by someone else.

Solution-
To resolve this, you must run regular automated vulnerability scanning. It helps to find dependencies with common vulnerabilities. Also, you can opt for NPM analysis for basic monitoring, yet consider using tools like Retire.js, WhiteSource Renovate, OWASP Dependency-Check, OSS INDEX, Acutinex, and NODEJSSCAN.

5. Establish Logging And Monitoring-
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