Phishing
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
1. Non compliant code
package main
import (
"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
)
func main() {
...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.
2. 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.
3. Secure code example
package main
import (
"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions"
"github.com/gin-contrib/sessions/cookie"
"golang.org/x/crypto/bcrypt"
...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