Security Vulnerabilities and Hardening Issues

[actuallyrizzn]

Security Vulnerabilities and Hardening Issues

Description

Multiple security vulnerabilities and missing security features that need to be addressed for production deployment.

Issues Found

1. Weak Default Secret Key

• Location: app/config.py:26
• Problem: Hardcoded weak secret key 'dev-secret-key-change-in-production'
• Risk: High - Session hijacking, data tampering
• Fix: Generate cryptographically secure random key, add validation

2. Missing CSRF Protection

• Location: app/config.py:47 (disabled in testing)
• Problem: CSRF protection not properly configured for production
• Risk: Medium - Cross-site request forgery attacks
• Fix: Enable CSRF protection with proper configuration

3. No Input Sanitization

• Location: Throughout message handling and form processing
• Problem: User inputs not sanitized before processing
• Risk: High - XSS, injection attacks
• Fix: Implement comprehensive input sanitization

4. Missing Security Headers

• Location: Application-wide
• Problem: No security headers implemented (HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options, etc.)
• Risk: Medium - Various client-side attacks
• Fix: Implement Flask-Talisman or custom middleware

5. Session Security Issues

• Location: app/utils/session_manager.py
• Problem: No secure session configuration for production
• Risk: Medium - Session hijacking
• Fix: Configure secure session cookies (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite)

Proposed Solutions

1. Secret Key Management:

   import secrets
   SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('FLASK_SECRET_KEY') or secrets.token_urlsafe(64)

2. CSRF Protection:

   from flask_wtf.csrf import CSRFProtect
   csrf = CSRFProtect(app)

3. Input Sanitization:

   from markupsafe import escape
   # Sanitize all user inputs

4. Security Headers:

   from flask_talisman import Talisman
   Talisman(app, force_https=True, strict_transport_security=True)

5. Secure Sessions:

   SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
   SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
   SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE = 'Lax'

Priority

HIGH - Security vulnerabilities should be addressed before production deployment.

Labels

security, bug, high-priority