Security Audit

Scan, detect, and fix security issues in codebases and infrastructure. Covers dependency vulnerabilities, secret detection, OWASP top 10, SSL/TLS verification, file permissions, and secure coding patterns.

When to Use

Scanning project dependencies for known vulnerabilities
Detecting hardcoded secrets, API keys, or credentials in source code
Reviewing code for OWASP top 10 vulnerabilities (injection, XSS, CSRF, etc.)
Verifying SSL/TLS configuration for endpoints
Auditing file and directory permissions
Checking authentication and authorization patterns
Preparing for a security review or compliance audit

Dependency Vulnerability Scanning

Node.js

# Built-in npm audit
npm audit
npm audit --json | jq '.vulnerabilities | to_entries[] | {name: .key, severity: .value.severity, via: .value.via[0]}'

# Fix automatically where possible
npm audit fix

# Show only high and critical
npm audit --audit-level=high

# Check a specific package
npm audit --package-lock-only

# Alternative: use npx to scan without installing
npx audit-ci --high

Python

# pip-audit (recommended)
pip install pip-audit
pip-audit
pip-audit -r requirements.txt
pip-audit --format=json

# safety (alternative)
pip install safety
safety check
safety check -r requirements.txt --json

# Check a specific package
pip-audit --requirement=- <<< "requests==2.25.0"

Go

# Built-in vuln checker
go install golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck@latest
govulncheck ./...

# Check specific binary
govulncheck -mode=binary ./myapp

Rust

# cargo-audit
cargo install cargo-audit
cargo audit

# With fix suggestions
cargo audit fix

Universal: Trivy (scans any project)

# Install: https://aquasecurity.github.io/trivy
# Scan filesystem
trivy fs .

# Scan specific language
trivy fs --scanners vuln --severity HIGH,CRITICAL .

# Scan Docker image
trivy image myapp:latest

# JSON output
trivy fs --format json -o results.json .

Secret Detection

Manual grep patterns

# AWS keys
grep -rn 'AKIA[0-9A-Z]\{16\}' --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,java,rb,env,yml,yaml,json,xml,cfg,conf,ini}' .

# Generic API keys and tokens
grep -rn -i 'api[_-]\?key\|api[_-]\?secret\|access[_-]\?token\|auth[_-]\?token\|bearer ' \
  --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,java,rb,env,yml,yaml,json}' .

# Private keys
grep -rn 'BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY' .

# Passwords in config
grep -rn -i 'password\s*[:=]' --include='*.{env,yml,yaml,json,xml,cfg,conf,ini,toml}' .

# Connection strings with credentials
grep -rn -i 'mongodb://\|mysql://\|postgres://\|redis://' --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,env,yml,yaml,json}' . | grep -v 'localhost\|127.0.0.1\|example'

# JWT tokens (three base64 segments separated by dots)
grep -rn 'eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.' --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,log,json}' .

Automated scanning with git

# Scan git history for secrets (not just current files)
# Using git log + grep
git log -p --all | grep -n -i 'api.key\|password\|secret\|token' | head -50

# Check staged files before commit
git diff --cached --name-only | xargs grep -l -i 'api.key\|password\|secret\|token' 2>/dev/null

Pre-commit hook for secrets

#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit - Block commits containing potential secrets

PATTERNS=(
    'AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}'
    'BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY'
    'password\s*[:=]\s*["\x27][^"\x27]+'
    'api[_-]?key\s*[:=]\s*["\x27][^"\x27]+'
    'sk-[A-Za-z0-9]{20,}'
    'ghp_[A-Za-z0-9]{36}'
    'xox[bpoas]-[A-Za-z0-9-]+'
)

STAGED_FILES=$(git diff --cached --name-only --diff-filter=ACM)
[ -z "$STAGED_FILES" ] && exit 0

EXIT_CODE=0
for pattern in "${PATTERNS[@]}"; do
    matches=$(echo "$STAGED_FILES" | xargs grep -Pn "$pattern" 2>/dev/null)
    if [ -n "$matches" ]; then
        echo "BLOCKED: Potential secret detected matching pattern: $pattern"
        echo "$matches"
        EXIT_CODE=1
    fi
done

if [ $EXIT_CODE -ne 0 ]; then
    echo ""
    echo "To proceed anyway: git commit --no-verify"
    echo "To remove secrets: replace with environment variables"
fi
exit $EXIT_CODE

.gitignore audit

# Check if sensitive files are tracked
echo "--- Files that should probably be gitignored ---"
for pattern in '.env' '.env.*' '*.pem' '*.key' '*.p12' '*.pfx' 'credentials.json' \
               'service-account*.json' '*.keystore' 'id_rsa' 'id_ed25519'; do
    found=$(git ls-files "$pattern" 2>/dev/null)
    [ -n "$found" ] && echo "  TRACKED: $found"
done

# Check if .gitignore exists and has common patterns
if [ ! -f .gitignore ]; then
    echo "WARNING: No .gitignore file found"
else
    for entry in '.env' 'node_modules' '*.key' '*.pem'; do
        grep -q "$entry" .gitignore || echo "  MISSING from .gitignore: $entry"
    done
fi

OWASP Top 10 Code Patterns

1. Injection (SQL, Command, LDAP)

# SQL injection: string concatenation in queries
grep -rn "query\|execute\|cursor" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . | \
  grep -i "f\"\|format(\|%s\|\${\|+ \"\|concat\|sprintf" | \
  grep -iv "parameterized\|placeholder\|prepared"

# Command injection: user input in shell commands
grep -rn "exec(\|spawn(\|system(\|popen(\|subprocess\|os\.system\|child_process" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' .

# Check for parameterized queries (good)
grep -rn "\\$[0-9]\|\\?\|%s\|:param\|@param\|prepared" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' .

2. Broken Authentication

# Weak password hashing (MD5, SHA1 used for passwords)
grep -rn "md5\|sha1\|sha256" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . | grep -i "password\|passwd"

# Hardcoded credentials
grep -rn -i "admin.*password\|password.*admin\|default.*password" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb,yml,yaml,json}' .

# Session tokens in URLs
grep -rn "session\|token\|jwt" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . | grep -i "url\|query\|param\|GET"

# Check for rate limiting on auth endpoints
grep -rn -i "rate.limit\|throttle\|brute" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' .

3. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

# Unescaped output in templates
grep -rn "innerHTML\|dangerouslySetInnerHTML\|v-html\|\|html(" \
  --include='*.{js,ts,jsx,tsx,vue,html}' .

# Template injection
grep -rn "{{{.*}}}\|<%=\|<%-\|\$\!{" --include='*.{html,ejs,hbs,pug,erb}' .

# Document.write
grep -rn "document\.write\|document\.writeln" --include='*.{js,ts,html}' .

# eval with user input
grep -rn "eval(\|new Function(\|setTimeout.*string\|setInterval.*string" \
  --include='*.{js,ts}' .

4. Insecure Direct Object References

# Direct ID usage in routes without authz check
grep -rn "params\.id\|params\[.id.\]\|req\.params\.\|request\.args\.\|request\.GET\." \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . | \
  grep -i "user\|account\|profile\|order\|document"

5. Security Misconfiguration

# CORS wildcard
grep -rn "Access-Control-Allow-Origin.*\*\|cors({.*origin.*true\|cors()" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' .

# Debug mode in production configs
grep -rn "DEBUG\s*=\s*True\|debug:\s*true\|NODE_ENV.*development" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,yml,yaml,json,env}' .

# Verbose error messages exposed to clients
grep -rn "stack\|traceback\|stackTrace" --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . | \
  grep -i "response\|send\|return\|res\."

SSL/TLS Verification

Check endpoint SSL

# Full SSL check
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com < /dev/null 2>/dev/null | \
  openssl x509 -noout -subject -issuer -dates -fingerprint

# Check certificate expiry
echo | openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com 2>/dev/null | \
  openssl x509 -noout -enddate

# Check supported TLS versions
for v in tls1 tls1_1 tls1_2 tls1_3; do
  result=$(openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -$v < /dev/null 2>&1)
  if echo "$result" | grep -q "Cipher is"; then
    echo "$v: SUPPORTED"
  else
    echo "$v: NOT SUPPORTED"
  fi
done

# Check cipher suites
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -cipher 'ALL' < /dev/null 2>&1 | \
  grep "Cipher    :"

# Check for weak ciphers
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -cipher 'NULL:EXPORT:DES:RC4:MD5' < /dev/null 2>&1 | \
  grep "Cipher    :"

Verify certificate chain

# Download and verify full chain
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -showcerts < /dev/null 2>/dev/null | \
  awk '/BEGIN CERTIFICATE/,/END CERTIFICATE/{print}' > chain.pem

# Verify chain
openssl verify -CAfile /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt chain.pem

# Check certificate details
openssl x509 -in chain.pem -noout -text | grep -A2 "Subject:\|Issuer:\|Not Before\|Not After\|DNS:"

Check SSL from code

# Verify SSL isn't disabled in code
grep -rn "verify\s*=\s*False\|rejectUnauthorized.*false\|InsecureSkipVerify.*true\|CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER.*false\|NODE_TLS_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED.*0" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb,yml,yaml}' .

File Permission Audit

# Find world-writable files
find . -type f -perm -o=w -not -path '*/node_modules/*' -not -path '*/.git/*' 2>/dev/null

# Find executable files that shouldn't be
find . -type f -perm -u=x -not -name '*.sh' -not -name '*.py' -not -path '*/node_modules/*' \
  -not -path '*/.git/*' -not -path '*/bin/*' 2>/dev/null

# Check sensitive file permissions
for f in .env .env.* *.pem *.key *.p12 id_rsa id_ed25519; do
    [ -f "$f" ] && ls -la "$f"
done

# Find files with SUID/SGID bits (Linux)
find / -type f \( -perm -4000 -o -perm -2000 \) 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Check SSH key permissions
if [ -d ~/.ssh ]; then
    echo "--- SSH directory permissions ---"
    ls -la ~/.ssh/
    echo ""
    # Should be: dir=700, private keys=600, public keys=644, config=600
    [ "$(stat -c %a ~/.ssh 2>/dev/null || stat -f %Lp ~/.ssh)" != "700" ] && echo "WARNING: ~/.ssh should be 700"
fi

Full Project Security Audit Script

#!/bin/bash
# security-audit.sh - Run a comprehensive security check on a project
set -euo pipefail

PROJECT_DIR="${1:-.}"
cd "$PROJECT_DIR"

echo "========================================="
echo "Security Audit: $(basename "$(pwd)")"
echo "Date: $(date -u '+%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')"
echo "========================================="
echo ""

ISSUES=0
warn() { echo "  [!] $1"; ((ISSUES++)); }
ok() { echo "  [OK] $1"; }
section() { echo ""; echo "--- $1 ---"; }

# 1. Secrets detection
section "Secret Detection"
for pattern in 'AKIA[0-9A-Z]\{16\}' 'BEGIN.*PRIVATE KEY' 'sk-[A-Za-z0-9]\{20,\}' \
               'ghp_[A-Za-z0-9]\{36\}' 'xox[bpoas]-'; do
    count=$(grep -rn "$pattern" --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,java,rb,env,yml,yaml,json,xml}' . 2>/dev/null | \
            grep -v 'node_modules\|\.git\|vendor\|__pycache__' | wc -l)
    if [ "$count" -gt 0 ]; then
        warn "Found $count matches for pattern: $pattern"
    fi
done
grep -rn -i 'password\s*[:=]\s*["'"'"'][^"'"'"']*["'"'"']' \
  --include='*.{js,ts,py,go,yml,yaml,json,env}' . 2>/dev/null | \
  grep -v 'node_modules\|\.git\|example\|test\|mock\|placeholder\|changeme\|xxxx' | \
  while read -r line; do warn "Hardcoded password: $line"; done

# 2. Dependency audit
section "Dependency Vulnerabilities"
if [ -f package-lock.json ] || [ -f package.json ]; then
    npm audit --audit-level=high 2>/dev/null && ok "npm: no high/critical vulns" || warn "npm audit found issues"
fi
if [ -f requirements.txt ]; then
    pip-audit -r requirements.txt 2>/dev/null && ok "pip: no known vulns" || warn "pip-audit found issues"
fi
if [ -f go.sum ]; then
    govulncheck ./... 2>/dev/null && ok "Go: no known vulns" || warn "govulncheck found issues"
fi

# 3. Gitignore check
section ".gitignore Coverage"
if [ ! -f .gitignore ]; then
    warn "No .gitignore file"
else
    for entry in '.env' 'node_modules' '*.key' '*.pem' '.DS_Store'; do
        grep -q "$entry" .gitignore 2>/dev/null && ok ".gitignore has $entry" || warn ".gitignore missing: $entry"
    done
fi

# 4. SSL verification disabled
section "SSL Verification"
disabled=$(grep -rn "verify\s*=\s*False\|rejectUnauthorized.*false\|InsecureSkipVerify.*true" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . 2>/dev/null | \
  grep -v 'node_modules\|\.git\|test\|spec\|mock' | wc -l)
[ "$disabled" -gt 0 ] && warn "SSL verification disabled in $disabled location(s)" || ok "No SSL bypasses found"

# 5. CORS wildcard
section "CORS Configuration"
cors=$(grep -rn "Access-Control-Allow-Origin.*\*\|cors({.*origin.*true" \
  --include='*.{py,js,ts,go,java,rb}' . 2>/dev/null | \
  grep -v 'node_modules\|\.git' | wc -l)
[ "$cors" -gt 0 ] && warn "CORS wildcard found in $cors location(s)" || ok "No CORS wildcard"

# 6. Debug mode
section "Debug/Development Settings"
debug=$(grep -rn "DEBUG\s*=\s*True\|debug:\s*true" \
  --include='*.{py,yml,yaml,json}' . 2>/dev/null | \
  grep -v 'node_modules\|\.git\|test\|jest\|vitest' | wc -l)
[ "$debug" -gt 0 ] && warn "Debug mode enabled in $debug location(s)" || ok "No debug flags found"

echo ""
echo "========================================="
echo "Audit complete. Issues found: $ISSUES"
echo "========================================="
[ "$ISSUES" -eq 0 ] && exit 0 || exit 1

Secure Coding Quick Reference

Environment variables instead of hardcoded secrets

# Bad: hardcoded in source
API_KEY="sk-abc123..."

# Good: from environment
API_KEY="${API_KEY:?Error: API_KEY not set}"

# Good: from .env file (loaded at startup, never committed)
# .env
API_KEY=sk-abc123...
# .gitignore
.env

Input validation checklist

- [ ] All user input validated (type, length, format)
- [ ] SQL queries use parameterized statements (never string concat)
- [ ] Shell commands never include user input directly
- [ ] File paths validated (no path traversal: ../)
- [ ] URLs validated (no SSRF: restrict to expected domains)
- [ ] HTML output escaped (no XSS: use framework auto-escaping)
- [ ] JSON parsing has error handling (no crash on malformed input)
- [ ] File uploads checked (type, size, no executable content)

HTTP security headers

# Check security headers on a URL
curl -sI https://example.com | grep -i 'strict-transport\|content-security\|x-frame\|x-content-type\|referrer-policy\|permissions-policy'

# Expected headers:
# Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
# Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'
# X-Frame-Options: DENY
# X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
# Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
# Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()

Tips

Run npm audit / pip-audit / govulncheck in CI on every pull request, not just occasionally.
Secret detection in git history matters: even if a secret is removed from HEAD, it exists in git history. Use git filter-branch or git-filter-repo to purge, then rotate the credential.
The most dangerous vulnerabilities are often the simplest: SQL injection via string concatenation, command injection via unsanitized input, XSS via innerHTML.
CORS Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * is safe for truly public, read-only APIs. It's dangerous for anything that uses cookies or auth tokens.
Always verify SSL in production. verify=False or rejectUnauthorized: false should only appear in test code, never in production paths.
Defense in depth: validate input, escape output, use parameterized queries, enforce least privilege, and assume every layer might be bypassed.

Security Audit Toolkit