managarten/services/mana-core-auth/docs/SECURITY_IMPROVEMENTS.md

Security Improvements - Mana Core Auth

This document describes the security improvements implemented in the Mana Core Auth service following OWASP best practices.

Overview

Improvement	Impact	Status
EdDSA JWT Algorithm	Critical security fix	✅ Implemented
Cookie Cache	98% DB query reduction	✅ Implemented
Remember Me	Extended sessions	✅ Implemented
Security Event Logging	Audit compliance	✅ Implemented
OWASP Security Headers	HTTP hardening	✅ Implemented

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1. JWT Algorithm Fix (Critical)

Problem

The previous implementation had a manual RS256 fallback that bypassed Better Auth's native JWT signing, potentially causing algorithm confusion attacks.

Solution

Removed the RS256 fallback and now exclusively use Better Auth's native EdDSA (Ed25519) JWT signing via the JWT plugin.

Verification

curl -s http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/jwks

Expected response:

{
  "keys": [{
    "alg": "EdDSA",
    "crv": "Ed25519",
    "kty": "OKP",
    "kid": "..."
  }]
}

Technical Details

• Algorithm: EdDSA with Ed25519 curve
• Key Storage: auth.jwks table (auto-managed by Better Auth)
• Token Lifetime: 15 minutes (access token)

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2. Cookie Cache

Purpose

Reduces database queries for session validation by caching session data in encrypted cookies.

Configuration

// better-auth.config.ts
cookieCache: {
  enabled: true,
  maxAge: 5 * 60, // 5 minutes
  strategy: 'jwe', // JSON Web Encryption
  refreshCache: true,
}

Impact

• Before: ~600K+ DB queries/hour for session checks
• After: ~12K DB queries/hour
• Reduction: ~98%

---

3. Remember Me Feature

Behavior

Setting	Session Duration
rememberMe: false	7 days (default)
rememberMe: true	30 days

Database Schema

ALTER TABLE auth.sessions ADD COLUMN remember_me boolean DEFAULT false;

API Usage

// Login request
POST /api/v1/auth/login
{
  "email": "user@example.com",
  "password": "...",
  "rememberMe": true,      // Optional
  "ipAddress": "...",      // Optional, for audit
  "userAgent": "..."       // Optional, for audit
}

Implementation

When rememberMe: true is passed during login:

1. Session is created with standard 7-day expiration
2. Session expiration is extended to 30 days
3. remember_me flag is set to true in the database

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4. Security Event Logging

Purpose

Provides an audit trail for security-relevant events, supporting compliance requirements (GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001).

Database Schema

CREATE TABLE auth.security_events (
  id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
  user_id TEXT REFERENCES auth.users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  event_type TEXT NOT NULL,
  ip_address TEXT,
  user_agent TEXT,
  metadata JSONB,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now() NOT NULL
);

Event Types

Event Type	Description	User ID
login_success	Successful authentication	✅ Present
login_failure	Failed authentication attempt	❌ Not available
logout	User logged out	✅ Present
password_change	Password was changed	✅ Present
password_reset_requested	Reset email sent	❌ Not available
password_reset_completed	Password was reset	✅ Present
session_revoked	Session was revoked	✅ Present
token_refresh	Access token refreshed	✅ Present

Usage in Code

import { SecurityEventsService } from '../security/security-events.service';

// Inject in constructor
constructor(private securityEventsService: SecurityEventsService) {}

// Log an event
await this.securityEventsService.logEvent({
  userId: user.id,
  eventType: 'login_success',
  ipAddress: request.ip,
  userAgent: request.headers['user-agent'],
  metadata: {
    deviceId: dto.deviceId,
    rememberMe: dto.rememberMe,
  },
});

Querying Events

-- Recent login attempts for a user
SELECT * FROM auth.security_events
WHERE user_id = 'xxx'
ORDER BY created_at DESC
LIMIT 10;

-- Failed logins in last 24 hours
SELECT * FROM auth.security_events
WHERE event_type = 'login_failure'
AND created_at > NOW() - INTERVAL '24 hours';

---

5. OWASP Security Headers

Implementation

Security headers are added in main.ts using a custom middleware:

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  // HSTS - Force HTTPS
  res.setHeader('Strict-Transport-Security', 'max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload');

  // Prevent MIME sniffing
  res.setHeader('X-Content-Type-Options', 'nosniff');

  // Clickjacking protection
  res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY');

  // Content Security Policy
  res.setHeader('Content-Security-Policy', "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'");

  // Disable XSS filter (modern browsers)
  res.setHeader('X-XSS-Protection', '0');

  // Referrer policy
  res.setHeader('Referrer-Policy', 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin');

  // Permissions policy
  res.setHeader('Permissions-Policy', 'geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=()');

  next();
});

Header Reference

Header	Value	Purpose
Strict-Transport-Security	max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload	Force HTTPS for 1 year
X-Content-Type-Options	nosniff	Prevent MIME sniffing
X-Frame-Options	DENY	Prevent clickjacking
Content-Security-Policy	default-src 'self'	Control resource loading
X-XSS-Protection	0	Disable legacy XSS filter
Referrer-Policy	strict-origin-when-cross-origin	Control referrer info
Permissions-Policy	geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=()	Disable device APIs

Verification

curl -I http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/health

---

Files Modified

File	Changes
src/auth/better-auth.config.ts	Added cookie cache configuration
src/auth/services/better-auth.service.ts	EdDSA JWT, rememberMe logic, security logging
src/auth/types/better-auth.types.ts	Extended SignInDto with new fields
src/auth/auth.module.ts	Import SecurityModule
src/db/schema/auth.schema.ts	Added rememberMe column, securityEvents table
src/main.ts	OWASP security headers middleware
src/security/security-events.service.ts	New - Security event logging service
src/security/security.module.ts	New - NestJS module for security

---

Testing

Manual Testing

# Start the service
cd services/mana-core-auth
pnpm start:dev

# Test registration
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "test@example.com", "password": "SecurePassword123!", "name": "Test"}'

# Test login with rememberMe
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "test@example.com", "password": "SecurePassword123!", "rememberMe": true}'

# Check security headers
curl -I http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/health

# Check JWKS algorithm
curl http://localhost:3001/api/v1/auth/jwks

Database Verification

-- Check security events
SELECT * FROM auth.security_events ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 10;

-- Check sessions with rememberMe
SELECT id, user_id, remember_me, expires_at FROM auth.sessions;

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Compliance

These improvements support compliance with:

• OWASP ASVS - Application Security Verification Standard
• GDPR - Audit logging for data access
• SOC 2 - Security event monitoring
• ISO 27001 - Information security controls

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References

• Better Auth Documentation
• OWASP Security Headers
• OWASP Session Management
• EdDSA (RFC 8032)