Need

Enhanced protection against phishing attacks

Context

• Usage of Go 1.16 for building efficient and scalable applications
• Usage of gin-gonic/gin for building web applications in Go

Description

Non compliant code

        package main

import (
	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
)

func main() {
	r := gin.Default()

	r.POST("/login", func(c *gin.Context) {
		var loginInfo Login
		if err := c.ShouldBindJSON(&loginInfo); err != nil {
			c.JSON(400, gin.H{"message": "Bad request"})
			return
		}

		// Authenticate user
		isAuthenticated := authenticateUser(loginInfo)
		if !isAuthenticated {
			c.JSON(401, gin.H{"message": "Unauthorized"})
			return
		}

		c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "Login successful"})
	})
	r.Run()
}

type Login struct {
	Email    string `json:"email"`
	Password string `json:"password"`
}

func authenticateUser(login Login) bool {
	// Simulate user authentication
	return login.Email == "user@example.com" && login.Password == "password"
}
        
        

This code represents a simple login endpoint in a Go application using the Gin framework. The /login route accepts POST requests with a JSON body containing email and password fields. This data is unmarshalled into a Login struct and then passed to the authenticateUser function.

The vulnerability lies in the fact that there is no protection against phishing attacks. An attacker could create a phishing site that mimics this login page, tricking users into entering their credentials. The phishing site then sends a POST request to the /login route with the phished credentials, effectively logging in as the unsuspecting user.

There are no mechanisms in place to verify that the login request is coming from a trusted source, such as a secure token or a captcha. Furthermore, there is no rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks, and no multi-factor authentication to provide an additional layer of security. All these factors make the application susceptible to phishing attacks.

Steps

• Implement secure email communication protocols, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, to prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks.
• Educate users about phishing attacks and how to identify and report suspicious emails.
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security to user logins.
• Use secure password storage mechanisms, such as hashing and salting, to protect user passwords.
• Implement SSL/TLS encryption to secure communication between the client and the server.
• Regularly update and patch the application and its dependencies to fix any known security vulnerabilities.
• Implement input validation and sanitization to prevent malicious input from being processed.
• Implement rate limiting and account lockout mechanisms to prevent brute-force attacks.
• Implement session management and enforce session expiration to prevent session hijacking.
• Implement secure coding practices, such as avoiding the use of deprecated or insecure functions and libraries.
• Regularly monitor and log application activities to detect and respond to potential security incidents.
• Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and fix any vulnerabilities in the application.

Compliant code

        package main

import (
	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
	"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions"
	"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions/cookie"
	"golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt"
)

func main() {
	r := gin.Default()

	store := cookie.NewStore([]byte("secret"))
	r.Use(sessions.Sessions("mysession", store))

	r.POST("/login", func(c *gin.Context) {
		session := sessions.Default(c)
		var loginInfo Login
		if err := c.ShouldBindJSON(&loginInfo); err != nil {
			c.JSON(400, gin.H{"message": "Bad request"})
			return
		}

		// Authenticate user
		isAuthenticated, err := authenticateUser(loginInfo)
		if err != nil || !isAuthenticated {
			c.JSON(401, gin.H{"message": "Unauthorized"})
			return
		}

		session.Set("user", loginInfo.Email)
		session.Save()

		c.JSON(200, gin.H{"message": "Login successful"})
	})
	r.Run()
}

type Login struct {
	Email    string `json:"email"`
	Password string `json:"password"`
}

func authenticateUser(login Login) (bool, error) {
	// Simulate user authentication
	hashedPassword, _ := bcrypt.GenerateFromPassword([]byte("password"), bcrypt.DefaultCost)
	err := bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword(hashedPassword, []byte(login.Password))
	return login.Email == "user@example.com" && err == nil, err
}
        
        

The updated code includes several security enhancements to mitigate the risk of phishing attacks:

1. Session Management: The application now uses the sessions middleware from the gin-contrib/sessions package to manage user sessions. This helps prevent session hijacking by associating each session with a unique, secure session ID.

2. Secure Password Storage: The bcrypt package from golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt is used to securely hash and salt user passwords. This ensures that even if an attacker manages to obtain the password data, they cannot reverse-engineer the original password.

3. User Authentication: The authenticateUser function now uses the bcrypt.CompareHashAndPassword function to compare the hashed version of the user-provided password with the stored hashed password. This is a more secure method of password comparison that mitigates the risk of timing attacks.

Please note that this code is a starting point and does not include all the recommended security measures. For example, it does not implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), input validation and sanitization, rate limiting, account lockout mechanisms, or secure email communication protocols. These additional measures should be implemented as part of a comprehensive security strategy.

References

• 114. Phishing