Security Audit

Conduct systematic security reviews of codebases to identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance gaps.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following tools are available:

bash
# Check for security tools (install if missing)
command -v gitleaks >/dev/null 2>&1 || echo "Install gitleaks: brew install gitleaks"
command -v trivy >/dev/null 2>&1 || echo "Install trivy: brew install trivy"
command -v semgrep >/dev/null 2>&1 || echo "Install semgrep: brew install semgrep"

Optional but recommended:

• npm audit / yarn audit (for Node.js projects)
• pip-audit (for Python projects)
• bundler-audit (for Ruby projects)

When to Use

• Security review before production deployment
• Periodic security audits of existing codebases
• After adding new authentication or authorization logic
• When handling sensitive data (PII, financial, health)
• After a security incident or breach report
• When onboarding to a new codebase with security concerns

When NOT to Use

• For general code quality reviews (use pr-review)
• When the user wants penetration testing guidance
• For infrastructure security (cloud config, network)
• When scope is unclear and needs brainstorming first

Audit Workflow

Phase 1: Reconnaissance (5-10 min)

Gather project context:

bash
# Identify project type and stack
cat package.json 2>/dev/null | head -20
cat requirements.txt 2>/dev/null | head -20
cat go.mod 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Find configuration files
find . -maxdepth 3 -name "*.env*" -o -name "config.*" -o -name ".env*" | grep -v node_modules | head -20

# Check for security-related files
ls -la .github/dependabot.yml .snyk 2>/dev/null
ls -la SECURITY.md 2>/dev/null

Phase 2: OWASP Top 10 Checklist

Review each category systematically:

A01:2021 - Broken Access Control

bash
# Find authentication/authorization middleware
grep -r "auth\|permission\|role\|admin\|middleware" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -20

# Check for unprotected routes
grep -r "router\.\(get\|post\|put\|delete\)" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | grep -v "auth\|protect\|secure" | head -20

# Look for IDOR vulnerabilities
grep -r "req\.params\|req\.query\|params\[" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -15

Checklist:

• ] All endpoints have proper authorization checks
• ] Users can only access their own resources (no IDOR)
• ] Admin routes are protected and audited
• ] CORS is properly configured (not * in production)
• ] Directory traversal is prevented

A02:2021 - Cryptographic Failures

bash
# Find hardcoded secrets or weak crypto
grep -rn "secret\|password\|api.key\|token" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v "node_modules\|test\|spec" | head -20

# Check for deprecated algorithms
grep -rn "md5\|sha1\|des\|rc4" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -10

# Find encryption usage
grep -rn "encrypt\|decrypt\|hash\|cipher" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

Checklist:

• ] No hardcoded secrets in source code
• ] TLS/HTTPS enforced for all connections
• ] Strong algorithms used (AES-256, bcrypt, Argon2)
• ] Sensitive data encrypted at rest
• ] Proper key management (not in code)

A03:2021 - Injection

bash
# Find SQL queries (look for string concatenation)
grep -rn "SELECT\|INSERT\|UPDATE\|DELETE" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -E "\+|`|\"|\$" | head -20

# Find command execution
grep -rn "exec\|spawn\|system\|eval\|Function(" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Find template literal usage in queries
grep -rn "\`\s*SELECT\|\`\s*INSERT" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

Checklist:

• ] Parameterized queries used (no string concatenation)
• ] Input validation before processing
• ] ORM used instead of raw queries
• ] No eval() or dynamic code execution
• ] Command injection prevented

A04:2021 - Insecure Design

bash
# Look for business logic patterns
grep -rn "TODO.*security\|FIXME.*security\|HACK\|XXX" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | head -10

# Find rate limiting configuration
grep -rn "rate.limit\|throttle\|rateLimit" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

# Check for security headers
grep -rn "helmet\|csp\|Content-Security-Policy\|X-Frame" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

Checklist:

• ] Rate limiting implemented on sensitive endpoints
• ] Business logic cannot be abused
• ] Proper error handling (no info leakage)
• ] Security headers configured

A05:2021 - Security Misconfiguration

bash
# Find configuration files
find . -maxdepth 3 -name "*.config.*" -o -name "docker-compose*" -o -name "Dockerfile" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Check for default credentials
grep -rn "admin\|password\|default" --include="*.yml" --include="*.yaml" --include="*.json" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Find debug mode flags
grep -rn "debug.*true\|DEBUG\|verbose" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -10

Checklist:

• ] Debug mode disabled in production
• ] Default credentials changed
• ] Unnecessary features/services disabled
• ] Error messages don't expose internals
• ] Security headers configured

A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components

bash
# Check for outdated dependencies
npm audit 2>/dev/null || echo "Not a Node.js project"
yarn audit 2>/dev/null || echo "Not a Yarn project"
pip-audit 2>/dev/null || echo "Not a Python project"

# Look for known vulnerable packages
grep -rn "lodash.*4\.17\.1[0-5]\|express.*4\.17\.\|minimist.*1\.2" package.json 2>/dev/null | head -10

Checklist:

• ] All dependencies updated to latest patch versions
• ] No known vulnerabilities (check audit output)
• ] Dependencies pinned to specific versions
• ] No unused/abandoned dependencies

A07:2021 - Identification and Authentication Failures

bash
# Find authentication logic
grep -rn "login\|authenticate\|password\|bcrypt\|jwt" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -20

# Check for session management
grep -rn "session\|cookie\|jwt\|token" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Look for brute force protection
grep -rn "attempt\|lockout\|brute\|rate.limit" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

Checklist:

• ] Passwords hashed with bcrypt/Argon2 (not MD5/SHA1)
• ] Multi-factor authentication available
• ] Session timeout configured
• ] Account lockout after failed attempts
• ] JWT tokens properly validated and expired

A08:2021 - Software and Data Integrity Failures

bash
# Find dependency lock files
ls -la package-lock.json yarn.lock poetry.lock go.sum 2>/dev/null

# Check for CI/CD integrity
ls -la .github/workflows/ 2>/dev/null | head -10

# Find auto-update mechanisms
grep -rn "auto.update\|self.update" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | head -10

Checklist:

• ] Lock files committed and used
• ] CI/CD pipeline integrity verified
• ] Code signing for releases
• ] No unsigned/untrusted sources

A09:2021 - Security Logging and Monitoring Failures

bash
# Find logging patterns
grep -rn "console.log\|logger\.\|log\.\|winston\|pino" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -20

# Check for security event logging
grep -rn "audit\|security\|unauthorized\|forbidden" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | grep -i "log" | head -15

Checklist:

• ] Security events logged (login failures, access denied)
• ] Logs not exposing sensitive data
• ] Centralized logging configured
• ] Alerting for suspicious activity

A10:2021 - Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)

bash
# Find HTTP client usage
grep -rn "fetch\|axios\|request\|http\." --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | grep -v node_modules | head -20

# Check for URL validation
grep -rn "url\|href\|redirect\|proxy" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

Checklist:

• ] User-supplied URLs validated against allowlist
• ] Internal network access restricted
• ] Response content not returned to user without validation
• ] DNS rebinding protection

Secret Detection

Run Automated Scanning

bash
# Using gitleaks (recommended)
gitleaks detect --source . --verbose

# Or using trufflehog
trufflehog filesystem --directory .

# Manual pattern search
grep -rn --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" --include="*.env*" \
  -E "(AKIA|AGPA|AIDA|AROA|AIPA|ANPA|ANVA|ASIA)[A-Z0-9]{16}" . | head -10

Common Secret Patterns

Look for these patterns in source code:

# AWS Keys
AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}

# GitHub/GitLab Tokens
ghp_[A-Za-z0-9]{36}
glpat-[A-Za-z0-9\-]{20,}

# Slack Tokens
xox[bpsar]-[A-Za-z0-9\-]+

# Private Keys
-----BEGIN (RSA |EC )?PRIVATE KEY-----

# Generic patterns
password\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"]+['"]
secret\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"]+['"]
api[_-]?key\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"]+['"]

Verify Secret Handling

bash
# Check .gitignore for sensitive files
cat .gitignore | grep -E "\.env|secret|credential|key"

# Verify secrets are in environment variables, not code
grep -rn "process\.env\|os\.environ\|os\.getenv" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | head -15

Input Validation

Check Validation Patterns

bash
# Find validation libraries
grep -rn "zod\|joi\|yup\|ajv\|class-validator\|validator" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

# Find manual validation
grep -rn "\.trim\(\)\|\.length\|\.match\|\.test\|regex" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Find sanitization
grep -rn "sanitize\|escape\|encode\|xss\|DOMPurify" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" | head -10

Validation Checklist

• ] All user inputs validated on server side
• ] Schema validation used (Zod, Joi, etc.)
• ] Output encoding applied (XSS prevention)
• ] File upload validation (type, size)
• ] URL validation for redirects

Authentication Review

Analyze Auth Implementation

bash
# Find auth-related code
find . -type f \( -name "*auth*" -o -name "*login*" -o -name "*session*" \) | grep -v node_modules | head -15

# Check password handling
grep -rn "bcrypt\|argon2\|scrypt\|hash" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | head -10

# Find JWT usage
grep -rn "jwt\|jsonwebtoken\|jose" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.py" | head -15

Authentication Checklist

• ] Passwords stored with strong hashing (bcrypt/Argon2)
• ] JWT secrets are strong and rotated
• ] Token expiration properly configured
• ] Refresh token rotation implemented
• ] Password reset flow secure
• ] Account enumeration prevented

Reporting

Generate Audit Report

Create a structured report:

markdown
# Security Audit Report

**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Scope:** [application name and version]
**Auditor:** [AI Agent]

## Executive Summary

- Critical: X findings
- High: X findings
- Medium: X findings
- Low: X findings
- Informational: X findings

## Findings

### [CRITICAL] Finding Title

**Category:** OWASP A0X
**File(s):** path/to/file.ts:line
**Description:** ...
**Impact:** ...
**Remediation:** ...
**Reference:** [CWE-XXX] [link]

## OWASP Top 10 Compliance

| Category | Status | Notes |
|----------|--------|-------|
| A01: Broken Access Control | Pass/Fail | ... |
| A02: Cryptographic Failures | Pass/Fail | ... |
| ... | ... | ... |

## Recommendations

1. Priority-ordered remediation steps
2. Quick wins vs long-term fixes
3. Tools/processes to prevent recurrence

Severity Classification

• Critical: Immediate exploitation risk, data breach potential
• High: Significant vulnerability, requires prompt fix
• Medium: Exploitable under certain conditions
• Low: Defense-in-depth improvement
• Informational: Best practice recommendation

Example Audit

markdown
# Security Audit Report

**Date:** 2024-01-15
**Scope:** api.example.com v2.1.0

## Executive Summary

- Critical: 1 findings
- High: 2 findings
- Medium: 3 findings
- Low: 2 findings

## Findings

### [CRITICAL] SQL Injection in User Search

**Category:** OWASP A03:2021 - Injection
**File:** src/api/users.ts:45
**Description:** User search endpoint concatenates input directly into SQL query.
**Impact:** Attacker can extract entire database, modify data, or execute commands.
**Remediation:** Use parameterized queries or ORM.

// Before (vulnerable) const query = SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = '${name}';

// After (secure) const user = await db.user.findUnique({ where: { name } });

### [HIGH] Hardcoded JWT Secret

**Category:** OWASP A02:2021 - Cryptographic Failures
**File:** src/config/auth.ts:12
**Description:** JWT secret hardcoded in source code.
**Impact:** Token forgery if source code is compromised.
**Remediation:** Move to environment variable, rotate immediately.

Edge Cases

Legacy Code

For older codebases without modern tooling:

1. Focus on injection and authentication first
2. Add manual validation before automated scanning
3. Create a remediation roadmap

Third-Party Dependencies

When dependencies have vulnerabilities:

1. Check if vulnerability is exploitable in your usage
2. Look for patches or alternatives
3. Document accepted risk if not exploitable

Microservices

For distributed systems:

1. Audit each service independently
2. Check inter-service authentication
3. Verify network policies

Troubleshooting

Tool Not Found

bash
# Install missing tools
brew install gitleaks trivy semgrep

# Or use Docker
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/src ghcr.io/gitleaks/gitleaks:latest detect -s /src

Too Many Findings

If audit produces overwhelming results:

1. Filter by severity (Critical and High first)
2. Focus on user-facing endpoints
3. Prioritize authentication and data handling code

False Positives

Common false positives to ignore:

• Test files with mock secrets
• Documentation examples
• Environment variable references (not actual values)

Best Practices

1. Automate early — Integrate security scanning into CI/CD
2. Shift left — Review security during design, not just before release
3. Layer defense — Multiple security controls, not just one
4. Document decisions — Record accepted risks and mitigations
5. Regular cadence — Schedule periodic audits, not just pre-release
6. Scope clearly — Define what's in/out of audit scope