Critical Security Vulnerabilities Identified

[Dfnkk]

Security Audit Findings

This issue documents critical security vulnerabilities identified in the codebase that require immediate attention.

Critical Vulnerabilities

1. Exposed API Key in Frontend Code

Location: views/index.ejs (lines 191-192)

var apiKey = "992ef3d60d434f2283ea8c6d70a4898d";
var url = `https://api.geoapify.com/v1/geocode/autocomplete?text=${encodeURIComponent(currentValue)}&limit=5&apiKey=${apiKey}`;

Risk: The GeoApify API key is hardcoded directly in client-side JavaScript, exposing it to anyone who views the page source. This could lead to API abuse and billing issues.

Recommendation: Move API requests to the server-side by creating a backend endpoint that proxies requests to GeoApify, keeping the API key secure on the server.

2. Exposed User Data in API Endpoint

Location: routes/apiRoutes.js (lines 574-589)

router.get("/users", homeLimiter, getToken, authenticateToken, async (req, res) => {
  let users;
  try {
    users = await User.find({});
  } catch (err) {
    console.error("Error getting users: " + err);
    res.status(500).send("Error getting users");
    return;
  }
  res.json(users);
});

Risk: This endpoint returns all user data without filtering sensitive information, exposing personal data to any authenticated user.

Recommendation: Implement data filtering to only return necessary fields and restrict access to authorized roles.

3. XSS Vulnerabilities in Templates

Location: Various EJS templates including index.ejs
Risk: User-controlled data from the database is directly inserted into HTML without sanitization, creating cross-site scripting vulnerabilities.

Recommendation: Use proper EJS escaping and client-side encoding for all dynamic data.

Additional Security Issues

1. NoSQL Injection Vulnerabilities

   • Direct user input used in MongoDB queries without proper validation
   • Fix: Use parameterized queries and validate all user inputs

2. Authentication & Authorization Issues

   • Inconsistent token validation
   • Missing role-based access controls
   • JWT implementation lacks proper expiration validation
   • Cookie-based authentication lacks Secure and SameSite flags

3. Other Security Issues

   • Improper error handling exposing implementation details
   • Outdated dependencies with known vulnerabilities
   • Missing input validation across multiple routes
   • Lack of Content Security Policy headers

Recommended Actions

1. Implement an immediate fix for the exposed API key
2. Add proper data filtering to all API endpoints
3. Update EJS templates to properly escape user-provided content
4. Implement comprehensive input validation
5. Update authentication mechanism with proper security controls
6. Add proper error handling that doesn't expose sensitive information
7. Update outdated dependencies

Priority: High
Severity: Critical

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