WE ACTIVELY SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING VERSIONS OF XAH PAYROLL WITH SECURITY UPDATES:

DO NOT OPEN PUBLIC GITHUB ISSUES FOR SECURITY VULNERABILITIES

WE TAKE SECURITY SERIOUSLY. IF YOU DISCOVER A SECURITY VULNERABILITY, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

EMAIL YOUR FINDINGS TO: admin@xahpayroll.xyz (or create a private security advisory on GitHub)

INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IN YOUR REPORT:

• DESCRIPTION: CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF THE VULNERABILITY
• IMPACT: POTENTIAL IMPACT AND SEVERITY ASSESSMENT
• REPRODUCTION STEPS: STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO REPRODUCE
• AFFECTED VERSIONS: WHICH VERSIONS ARE VULNERABLE
• PROPOSED FIX: IF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTED SOLUTION (OPTIONAL)
• CONTACT INFO: HOW WE CAN REACH YOU FOR FOLLOW-UP

• ACKNOWLEDGMENT: WITHIN 48 HOURS OF REPORT SUBMISSION
• INITIAL ASSESSMENT: WITHIN 7 DAYS
• FIXES & PATCHES: WITHIN 30-90 DAYS (DEPENDING ON SEVERITY)
• PUBLIC DISCLOSURE: COORDINATED WITH REPORTER AFTER FIX IS DEPLOYED

WE BELIEVE IN RECOGNIZING SECURITY RESEARCHERS:

• SECURITY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: LISTED IN CHANGELOG AND SECURITY ADVISORIES
• CVE CREDIT: PROPER ATTRIBUTION FOR CVE ASSIGNMENTS
• COORDINATED DISCLOSURE: WE WORK WITH YOU ON PUBLIC DISCLOSURE TIMING

NEVER COMMIT CREDENTIALS OR SECRETS TO GIT

# ✅ CORRECT: USE ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
DB_PASSWORD=your_secure_password_here
JWT_SECRET=your_random_jwt_secret

# ❌ WRONG: HARDCODED IN CODE
const dbPassword = 'mypassword123'; // NEVER DO THIS

GENERATE STRONG SECRETS:

# GENERATE SECURE JWT SECRET (LINUX/MAC)
openssl rand -base64 64

# GENERATE SECURE DATABASE PASSWORD
openssl rand -base64 32

CONNECTION SECURITY:

• USE SSL/TLS FOR DATABASE CONNECTIONS IN PRODUCTION
• ROTATE DATABASE PASSWORDS REGULARLY (QUARTERLY)
• USE PRINCIPLE OF LEAST PRIVILEGE FOR DATABASE USERS
• NEVER EXPOSE DATABASE PORT PUBLICLY

BACKUP SECURITY:

• ENCRYPT DATABASE BACKUPS AT REST
• NEVER COMMIT .sql, .dump, OR .backup FILES TO GIT
• STORE BACKUPS IN SECURE, ACCESS-CONTROLLED LOCATIONS

RECOMMENDED DATABASE USER PERMISSIONS:

-- CREATE LIMITED-PRIVILEGE USER (EXAMPLE)
CREATE USER xahpayroll_user WITH PASSWORD 'SECURE_PASSWORD_HERE';
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE xahpayroll TO xahpayroll_user;
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO xahpayroll_user;
-- AVOID GRANTING SUPERUSER OR CREATE DATABASE PRIVILEGES

PRIVATE KEY MANAGEMENT:

• NEVER COMMIT XRPL WALLET SECRETS OR PRIVATE KEYS
• USE HARDWARE WALLETS OR SECURE KEY MANAGEMENT FOR PRODUCTION
• ROTATE TEST WALLET KEYS REGULARLY
• IMPLEMENT MULTI-SIGNATURE WALLETS FOR HIGH-VALUE ESCROWS

TESTNET VS MAINNET:

# ✅ DEVELOPMENT: USE TESTNET
XRPL_NETWORK=testnet
XRPL_WEBSOCKET=wss://s.altnet.rippletest.net:51233

# ⚠️ PRODUCTION: USE MAINNET WITH EXTREME CAUTION
XRPL_NETWORK=mainnet
XRPL_WEBSOCKET=wss://xahau.network

PAYMENT CHANNEL SECURITY:

• SET APPROPRIATE CANCEL_AFTER TIMEOUTS (RECOMMENDED: 24-72 HOURS)
• VERIFY CHANNEL SIGNATURES CRYPTOGRAPHICALLY BEFORE CLAIMS
• IMPLEMENT RATE LIMITING FOR PAYMENT CHANNEL OPERATIONS
• MONITOR CHANNELS FOR SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

TOKEN SECURITY:

• USE STRONG, RANDOM JWT SECRETS (MINIMUM 256 BITS)
• SET SHORT EXPIRATION TIMES (RECOMMENDED: 7 DAYS MAX)
• ROTATE JWT SECRETS AFTER SUSPECTED BREACHES
• NEVER LOG OR DISPLAY FULL JWT TOKENS

SESSION MANAGEMENT:

// ✅ SECURE JWT CONFIGURATION
const jwtConfig = {
  secret: process.env.JWT_SECRET, // RANDOM 256-BIT SECRET
  expiresIn: '7d',                // SHORT EXPIRATION
  algorithm: 'HS256'              // SECURE ALGORITHM
};

RATE LIMITING:

• CURRENT DEFAULT: 100 REQUESTS PER 15 MINUTES
• ADJUST BASED ON YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY
• IMPLEMENT ENDPOINT-SPECIFIC RATE LIMITS FOR SENSITIVE OPERATIONS

CORS CONFIGURATION:

// ✅ PRODUCTION: STRICT ORIGINS
CORS_ORIGINS=https://yourproductiondomain.com

// ⚠️ DEVELOPMENT: LOCALHOST ONLY
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:3000,http://localhost:5173

INPUT VALIDATION:

• VALIDATE ALL USER INPUTS ON BACKEND (NEVER TRUST FRONTEND)
• USE JOI OR SIMILAR VALIDATION LIBRARIES
• SANITIZE INPUTS TO PREVENT SQL INJECTION AND XSS

INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY:

• USE HTTPS/TLS FOR ALL WEB TRAFFIC (MINIMUM TLS 1.2)
• ENABLE FIREWALL RULES TO RESTRICT DATABASE ACCESS
• USE REVERSE PROXY (NGINX/TRAEFIK) FOR BACKEND API
• IMPLEMENT INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEMS (IDS)

ENVIRONMENT HARDENING:

# DISABLE DEBUG MODE IN PRODUCTION
DEBUG=false
NODE_ENV=production

# ENABLE MINIMAL LOGGING (AVOID SENSITIVE DATA)
LOG_LEVEL=warn
ENABLE_REQUEST_LOGGING=false

SECURITY MONITORING:

• LOG FAILED AUTHENTICATION ATTEMPTS
• MONITOR PAYMENT CHANNEL ANOMALIES (LARGE AMOUNTS, RAPID CLAIMS)
• SET UP ALERTS FOR SUSPICIOUS DATABASE QUERIES
• TRACK API RATE LIMIT VIOLATIONS

RECOMMENDED TOOLS:

• LOG AGGREGATION: ELK STACK, SPLUNK, OR DATADOG
• UPTIME MONITORING: PINGDOM, UPTIMEROBOT
• SECURITY SCANNING: SNYK, DEPENDABOT, OSSINDEX

BREACH RESPONSE PLAN:

1. IMMEDIATE: DISABLE COMPROMISED CREDENTIALS
2. ISOLATE: DISCONNECT AFFECTED SYSTEMS FROM NETWORK
3. INVESTIGATE: ANALYZE LOGS AND IDENTIFY ATTACK VECTOR
4. REMEDIATE: PATCH VULNERABILITIES AND ROTATE ALL SECRETS
5. NOTIFY: INFORM AFFECTED USERS AND STAKEHOLDERS
6. REVIEW: CONDUCT POST-MORTEM AND UPDATE SECURITY POLICIES

PROTECT YOUR PRIVATE KEYS:

• NEVER SHARE YOUR XAMAN WALLET SECRET OR SEED PHRASE
• VERIFY TRANSACTION DETAILS BEFORE SIGNING IN XAMAN APP
• USE XAMAN BIOMETRIC AUTHENTICATION WHERE AVAILABLE
• ENABLE XAMAN PIN CODE PROTECTION

RECOGNIZE PHISHING:

• XAHPAYROLL WILL NEVER ASK FOR YOUR PRIVATE KEYS
• VERIFY URLs MATCH OFFICIAL DOMAINS
• BE CAUTIOUS OF UNEXPECTED PAYMENT REQUESTS

STRONG AUTHENTICATION:

• USE UNIQUE WALLET ADDRESSES FOR DIFFERENT ROLES (EMPLOYEE VS EMPLOYER)
• MONITOR YOUR PAYMENT CHANNELS REGULARLY
• REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY IMMEDIATELY

SETTLEDELAY PROTECTION:

• WORKERS HAVE A GRACE PERIOD (TYPICALLY 24+ HOURS) DURING CHANNEL CLOSURE
• NGOS CANNOT FINALIZE CLOSURE UNTIL SETTLEDELAY EXPIRES
• WORKERS SHOULD FINALIZE EXPIRED CHANNELS THEMSELVES TO PROTECT BALANCES

RECOMMENDATION:

• WORKERS: MONITOR DASHBOARD FOR EXPIRED CHANNELS (RED PULSING BADGE)
• WORKERS: CLICK "FINALIZE CLOSURE" PROMPTLY TO CLAIM ACCUMULATED BALANCE
• NGOS: HONOR SETTLEDELAY PERIODS AND COMMUNICATE CLOSURES TRANSPARENTLY

XAHAU ACTIVATION:

• WORKER WALLETS MUST BE ACTIVATED ON XAHAU BEFORE PAYMENT CHANNEL CREATION
• MINIMUM RESERVE: 10-20 XAH TO ACTIVATE ACCOUNT
• ERROR: TECNO_DST INDICATES DESTINATION WALLET NOT ACTIVATED

GDPR COMPLIANCE:

• USER DATA DELETION AVAILABLE VIA PROFILE SETTINGS
• 48-HOUR GRACE PERIOD FOR PROFILE DELETION REVERSAL
• PERMANENT DATA REMOVAL AFTER GRACE PERIOD EXPIRES

DATA RETENTION:

• ACTIVE SESSION DATA: RETAINED WHILE ACCOUNT ACTIVE
• DELETED PROFILES: PERMANENT REMOVAL AFTER 48 HOURS
• PAYMENT CHANNEL HISTORY: RETAINED FOR AUDIT PURPOSES (90 DAYS)

XRPL COMPLIANCE:

• XAH PAYROLL OPERATES ON XAHAU (XRPL SIDECHAIN)
• NO CUSTODIAL WALLET SERVICES (USERS CONTROL PRIVATE KEYS)
• CONSULT LOCAL REGULATIONS FOR CRYPTOCURRENCY PAYMENT COMPLIANCE

GENERAL SECURITY INQUIRIES: admin@xahpayroll.xyz VULNERABILITY REPORTS: PRIVATE SECURITY ADVISORY ON GITHUB PROJECT MAINTAINERS: GOOD MONEY COLLECTIVE

• OWASP TOP 10
• XRPL SECURITY BEST PRACTICES
• NODEJS SECURITY CHECKLIST
• POSTGRESQL SECURITY

LAST UPDATED: 2026-01-03 VERSION: 1.0