Files
picpeak/docs/JWT_SECRET_MIGRATION.md
T
paul 1773ed5f95
Mirror to GitHub / mirror (push) Successful in 26s
Test and Lint / backend-test (push) Successful in 1m11s
continuous-integration/drone/push Build is passing
Test and Lint / frontend-test (push) Successful in 2m28s
Version and Release / version-bump (push) Successful in 32s
Version and Release / trigger-drone (push) Has been skipped
Initial commit - Project start (July 17, 2025)
Original: feat: enhance security logging and ensure rate limit blocks are properly tracked

- Add comprehensive logging for rate limit blocks with full request details
  - IP address (with proper proxy detection), user agent, headers, timestamps
  - Rate limit info (current count, limit, remaining, reset time)
  - Separate tracking for auth vs general endpoints

- Enhance authentication failure logging
  - JWT validation failures with detailed error info
  - Admin auth attempts without token
  - Failed token validation with user context
  - All events include IP, path, method, user agent

- Improve Winston logger configuration for production
  - Add automatic log rotation (10MB errors, 50MB combined)
  - Create separate security.log for auth/rate limit events
  - Ensure logs directory exists automatically
  - Add structured JSON format for log aggregation
  - Support container logging with LOG_TO_CONSOLE env var

- Create comprehensive documentation
  - Security logging guide with examples
  - Monitoring recommendations
  - Configuration reference

- Add test script to verify logging functionality

All rate limit settings remain configurable via admin panel:
- Window duration, max requests, auth limits
- Skip authenticated requests option
- Public endpoints only option

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.ai/code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
2025-07-24 16:57:07 +02:00

109 lines
3.5 KiB
Markdown

# JWT_SECRET Security Fix - Migration Guide
## Overview
A critical security vulnerability has been fixed where the application would fall back to a hardcoded JWT secret (`'your-secret-key'`) if the `JWT_SECRET` environment variable was not set. This has been addressed by:
1. Adding startup validation that requires `JWT_SECRET` to be set
2. Removing all hardcoded fallback values
3. Ensuring the secret meets minimum security requirements
## Changes Made
### 1. Added Environment Validation (`backend/src/config/validateEnv.js`)
- The server now validates critical environment variables at startup
- If `JWT_SECRET` is missing or set to the insecure default, the server will refuse to start
- Warns if `JWT_SECRET` is less than 32 characters (recommended minimum)
### 2. Updated Server Startup (`backend/server.js`)
- Added validation call immediately after loading environment variables
- Ensures all routes and middleware have access to validated configuration
### 3. Removed Hardcoded Fallbacks (`backend/src/routes/protectedImages.js`)
- Removed `|| 'your-secret-key'` fallback from lines 15 and 27
- Functions now rely on the validated `JWT_SECRET` from environment
## Migration Steps for Production
### Before Deployment
1. **Verify JWT_SECRET is set in production**:
```bash
# Check if JWT_SECRET is set
echo $JWT_SECRET
```
2. **Ensure JWT_SECRET is secure**:
- Must NOT be `'your-secret-key'`
- Should be at least 32 characters long
- Should be randomly generated
3. **Generate a secure JWT_SECRET if needed**:
```bash
# Generate a secure 64-character secret
openssl rand -hex 32
```
### Deployment Process
1. **Update environment variables** (if needed):
```bash
# Example for .env file
JWT_SECRET=your-secure-64-character-random-string-here
```
2. **Deploy the updated code**
3. **Monitor startup logs** to ensure no validation errors:
```
✓ Environment validation passed
✓ Server running on port 3000
```
### Rollback Plan
If the deployment fails due to missing `JWT_SECRET`:
1. **Quick Fix** (temporary):
- Set `JWT_SECRET` environment variable to a secure value
- Restart the application
2. **Full Rollback** (if needed):
- Revert to previous version
- Set `JWT_SECRET` properly before attempting deployment again
## Verification
After deployment, verify the fix is working:
1. **Check server logs** for successful startup
2. **Test authentication** to ensure JWT tokens are working
3. **Verify image protection** routes are functioning
## Security Considerations
- **Never** commit JWT_SECRET to version control
- **Rotate** JWT_SECRET periodically
- **Use different** secrets for different environments (dev, staging, production)
- **Monitor** for authentication failures that might indicate token issues
## Troubleshooting
### Server won't start
- **Error**: "Missing required environment variable: JWT_SECRET"
- **Solution**: Set the JWT_SECRET environment variable
### JWT_SECRET rejection
- **Error**: "JWT_SECRET is set to the insecure default value"
- **Solution**: Change JWT_SECRET from 'your-secret-key' to a secure value
### Authentication failures after deployment
- **Cause**: Existing tokens were signed with old secret
- **Solution**: Users will need to re-authenticate to get new tokens
## Support
If you encounter issues during migration:
1. Check the server logs for specific error messages
2. Verify environment variables are properly set
3. Ensure the JWT_SECRET value doesn't contain special characters that might need escaping