TypeScript Security Review

Overview

Security review for TypeScript/Node.js applications. Evaluates code against OWASP Top 10, framework-specific patterns, and production-readiness criteria. Findings are classified by severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low) with remediation examples. Delegates to the typescript-security-expert agent for deep analysis.

When to Use

• Performing security audits on TypeScript/Node.js codebases
• Reviewing authentication and authorization implementations (JWT, OAuth2, Passport.js)
• Checking for common vulnerabilities (XSS, injection, CSRF, path traversal)
• Validating input validation and sanitization logic
• Reviewing dependency security (npm audit, known CVEs)
• Checking secrets management and environment variable handling
• Assessing API security (rate limiting, CORS, security headers)
• Reviewing Express, NestJS, or Next.js security configurations
• Before deploying to production or after significant code changes
• Compliance checks (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2 data handling requirements)

Instructions

1. Identify Scope: Determine which files and modules are under review. Prioritize authentication, authorization, data handling, API endpoints, and configuration files. Use grep to find security-sensitive patterns (eval, exec, innerHTML, password handling, JWT operations).

Checkpoint: Verify at least 3 security-sensitive files/modules identified before proceeding.

1. Check Authentication & Authorization: Review JWT implementation (signing algorithm, expiration, refresh tokens), OAuth2/OIDC integration, session management, password hashing (bcrypt/argon2), and multi-factor authentication. Verify protected routes enforce authentication.

Checkpoint: Use grep to confirm all route handlers have auth guards or middleware applied.

1. Scan for Injection Vulnerabilities: Check for SQL/NoSQL injection in database queries, command injection in exec/spawn, template injection, and LDAP injection. Verify parameterized queries and input validation.

Checkpoint: Use grep to confirm all database queries use parameterization — no string concatenation with user input.

1. Review Input Validation: Check API inputs validated with Zod, Joi, or class-validator. Verify schema completeness — proper type constraints, length limits, format validation. Check for validation bypass paths.

Checkpoint: Verify all public API endpoints have corresponding validation schemas.

1. Assess XSS Prevention: Review React components for dangerouslySetInnerHTML usage, check Content Security Policy headers, verify HTML sanitization for user-generated content. See references/xss-prevention.md for detailed patterns.

Checkpoint: Use grep to confirm any dangerouslySetInnerHTML usage has sanitization via DOMPurify or equivalent.

1. Check Secrets Management: Scan for hardcoded credentials, API keys, secrets in source code. Verify .env files are gitignored, secrets accessed through proper management services.

Checkpoint: Run grep -r "password\|secret\|api.*key\|token" --include="*.ts" to identify potential secrets in code.

1. Review Dependency Security: Run npm audit or check package-lock.json for known vulnerabilities. Identify outdated dependencies with CVEs. Check for unnecessary dependencies.

Checkpoint: Verify npm audit results are reviewed and critical vulnerabilities addressed.

1. Evaluate Security Headers & Configuration: Check helmet.js or manual security header configuration. Review CORS policy, rate limiting, HTTPS enforcement, cookie security flags (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite), and CSP. See references/security-headers.md for configuration examples.

Checkpoint: Use grep to confirm helmet or equivalent security headers are applied globally.

1. Produce Security Report: Generate structured report with severity-classified findings, remediation guidance with code examples, and security posture summary.

Feedback Loop: If Critical or High vulnerabilities found, re-scan related modules for similar patterns before finalizing. Use grep to identify if the same vulnerability pattern exists elsewhere.

Examples

JWT Security Review

typescript
// ❌ Critical: Weak JWT configuration
import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken';

const SECRET = 'mysecret123'; // Hardcoded weak secret

function generateToken(user: User) {
  return jwt.sign({ id: user.id, role: user.role }, SECRET);
  // Missing expiration, weak secret, no algorithm specification
}

// ✅ Secure: Proper JWT configuration
import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken';

const JWT_SECRET = process.env.JWT_SECRET;
if (!JWT_SECRET || JWT_SECRET.length < 32) {
  throw new Error('JWT_SECRET must be set and at least 32 characters');
}

function generateToken(user: User): string {
  return jwt.sign(
    { sub: user.id }, // Minimal claims, no sensitive data
    JWT_SECRET,
    {
      algorithm: 'HS256',
      expiresIn: '15m',
      issuer: 'my-app',
      audience: 'my-app-client',
    }
  );
}

function verifyToken(token: string): JwtPayload {
  return jwt.verify(token, JWT_SECRET, {
    algorithms: ['HS256'], // Restrict accepted algorithms
    issuer: 'my-app',
    audience: 'my-app-client',
  }) as JwtPayload;
}

SQL Injection Prevention

typescript
// ❌ Critical: SQL injection vulnerability
async function findUser(email: string) {
  const result = await db.query(
    `SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = '${email}'`
  );
  return result.rows[0];
}

// ✅ Secure: Parameterized query
async function findUser(email: string) {
  const result = await db.query(
    'SELECT id, name, email FROM users WHERE email = $1',
    [email]
  );
  return result.rows[0];
}

// ✅ Secure: ORM with type-safe queries (Drizzle example)
async function findUser(email: string) {
  return db.select({
    id: users.id,
    name: users.name,
    email: users.email,
  })
  .from(users)
  .where(eq(users.email, email))
  .limit(1);
}

See references/xss-prevention.md for XSS patterns and references/security-headers.md for security headers configuration.

Review Output Format

Structure all security review findings as follows:

1. Security Posture Summary

Overall security assessment score (1-10) with key observations and risk level.

2. Critical Vulnerabilities (Immediate Action)

Issues that can be exploited to compromise the system, steal data, or cause unauthorized access.

3. High Priority (Address Within 30 Days)

Security misconfigurations, missing protections, or vulnerabilities requiring near-term remediation.

4. Medium Priority (Address Within 90 Days)

Issues that reduce security posture but have mitigating factors or limited exploitability.

5. Low Priority (Next Cycle)

Security improvements, hardening recommendations, and defense-in-depth enhancements.

6. Positive Security Observations

Well-implemented security patterns and practices to acknowledge.

7. Remediation Roadmap

Prioritized action items with code examples for the most critical fixes.

Best Practices

• Validate all inputs at the API boundary — never trust client-side validation alone
• Use parameterized queries or ORMs — never concatenate user input into queries
• Store secrets in environment variables or secret managers — never in source code
• Apply the principle of least privilege for database accounts, API keys, and IAM roles
• Enable security headers (helmet.js) and restrict CORS to known origins
• Implement rate limiting on all public-facing endpoints
• Hash passwords with bcrypt or argon2 — never use MD5/SHA for passwords
• Set cookie flags: HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Strict
• Use npm audit in CI pipelines to catch dependency vulnerabilities
• Log security events (failed logins, permission denials) without logging sensitive data

Constraints and Warnings

• Security review is not a substitute for professional penetration testing
• Focus on code-level vulnerabilities — infrastructure security is out of scope
• Respect the project's framework — provide framework-specific remediation guidance
• Do not log, print, or expose discovered secrets — report their location only
• Dependency vulnerabilities should be assessed for actual exploitability, not just presence
• Security recommendations must be practical — consider implementation effort vs risk reduction

References

See the references/ directory for detailed security documentation:

• references/owasp-typescript.md — OWASP Top 10 mapped to TypeScript/Node.js patterns
• references/common-vulnerabilities.md — Common vulnerability patterns and remediation
• references/dependency-security.md — Dependency scanning and supply chain security
• references/xss-prevention.md — XSS prevention patterns for React and server-side
• references/security-headers.md — Security headers and CORS configuration examples
• references/input-validation.md — Input validation patterns with Zod and class-validator