60 articles tagged with "security"
Forget the 40-page STRIDE documents and 3-hour whiteboard sessions. Here's how to bake threat modeling into your daily engineering workflow without scheduling another meeting about meetings.
Your API shouldn't blindly bind every field the client sends. Here's how mass assignment vulnerabilities let attackers promote themselves to admin by just asking nicely — and how to stop it.
You're serving files. You're sanitizing inputs. You think you're safe. Then someone types ../../../../etc/passwd and your confidence evaporates. Path traversal is ancient, boring, and still quietly wrecking modern apps.
KMS doesn't encrypt your data — it encrypts the key that encrypts your data. That's envelope encryption, and once it clicks, cloud secrets management makes total sense.
Every time you copy a .env file into a Docker image or run pip install with a private token, you're writing credentials into an immutable layer that anyone with docker history can read. Here's how BuildKit secrets actually fix this.
You wouldn't eat food without knowing what's in it. So why are you shipping software without a bill of materials? Here's how to generate an SBOM and actually use it before your own Log4Shell moment lands.
The attacker already knows your session ID before you log in. How? They set it. Session fixation is the overlooked cousin of session hijacking, and the fix is one line of code you're probably not calling.
You added target=\"_blank\" to open links in new tabs. Somewhere out there, an attacker just smiled. Here's how tabnabbing turns your innocent HTML into a phishing weapon.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the ways developers get them catastrophically wrong. From the 'alg: none' nightmare to signing key confusion, let's walk through the JWT pitfalls that have burned real production apps (and how to not be next).
JWTs are the backbone of modern auth — but they come with a haunted house of footguns. From the 'none' algorithm attack to algorithm confusion, here's what can go wrong and how to actually get it right.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the ways developers get them catastrophically wrong. From the 'alg: none' classic to signing key leaks, here's the field guide to not turning your authentication into a welcome mat.
Your API is an all-you-can-eat buffet — and without rate limiting, one hungry client will eat everything and leave nothing for the rest. Here's how to put up a velvet rope.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the catastrophic mistakes developers make with them. From the infamous 'alg: none' attack to leaking secrets in localStorage, here's what's actually going wrong in your auth layer.
JWTs are everywhere, misunderstood by most, and broken in production more often than you'd like to know. Let's fix your auth before someone else does it for you.
Your API is an all-you-can-eat buffet and bots are filling their plates 10,000 times per minute. Here's how to be the bouncer your Express app desperately needs.
You trust your logs to tell the truth. But what if attackers are writing the story? Log injection lets hackers forge entries, hide attacks, and even trigger XSS in your log viewer — and most devs never see it coming.
JWTs are everywhere, and so are the mistakes. From the infamous 'alg: none' trick to storing tokens in localStorage like it's 2013 — let's fix the most common JWT security blunders before they fix you.
JWTs are everywhere — auth systems, microservices, mobile apps. They're also riddled with footguns. From the 'alg: none' disaster to secret-less HS256 setups, here's what actually goes wrong and how to stop it.
Your API is a bouncer at a club, not an open buffet. Learn how rate limiting protects your Node.js backend from abuse, bots, and that one guy who sends 10,000 requests per minute.
Server-Side Request Forgery is the attack behind the Capital One breach, countless cloud credential leaks, and a whole lot of red-faced engineers. If your app fetches URLs, you need to read this.
Your Express app is running naked on the internet. Helmet.js adds the security headers browsers need to protect your users — and it's a one-liner to install.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the bugs. From the infamous 'alg: none' disaster to leaking secrets in browser storage, here's how developers routinely shoot themselves in the foot with JSON Web Tokens and how to stop.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the mistakes that make them catastrophically insecure. From the 'alg:none' disaster to secret key leaks, here's what developers get wrong and how to fix it.
Your users think they're clicking 'Play Video' but they're actually approving a bank transfer. Clickjacking is sneaky, underrated, and embarrassingly easy to fix — if you know it exists.
SQL injection has been on the OWASP Top 10 since 2003 and is still wrecking databases in 2026. It's not the hackers who are embarrassing — it's us. Let's finally fix that.
Your API is not an all-you-can-eat buffet. Learn how to add rate limiting to Express before a single angry bot (or enthusiastic user) takes your server down.
JSON Web Tokens are everywhere — and so are the footguns. From the infamous 'alg: none' exploit to weak secrets that crack in seconds, here's how JWTs go wrong and how to do them right.
JWTs are everywhere, and so are the footguns. From the infamous 'alg: none' exploit to weak secrets and missing expiry, let's walk through how developers get JWTs catastrophically wrong — and how to fix it.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are JWT vulnerabilities. From the 'alg: none' disaster to weak secrets and missing expiry checks, here's what you're almost certainly getting wrong.
JWTs look secure — they're signed! But 'alg: none', weak secrets, and missing claim validation have leaked millions of accounts. Here's how attackers break JWTs and how to make yours bulletproof.
JWTs are everywhere — auth headers, cookies, URL params. They look secure. They feel secure. But a shocking number of apps verify them wrong, sign them weakly, or don't verify them at all. Let's talk about that.
Cross-Site Scripting has been killing web apps since the 90s. It's embarrassingly simple, wildly misunderstood, and your React app probably isn't as safe as you think. Let's fix that.
Your API is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and bots are that one guy with a forklift. Here's how to add a bouncer with Express rate limiting.
Server-Side Request Forgery sounds complicated, but the concept is delightfully evil: trick a server into making HTTP requests *it* shouldn't be making, then read what comes back. It took down Capital One. It lives in your URL-fetching code. Let's fix that.
SQL injection has been on the OWASP Top 10 since the list was invented. It's older than most junior devs' coding careers. And yet — it still takes down databases in 2026. Let's figure out why, and kill it for good.
JWTs are everywhere — and so are the rookie mistakes that let attackers waltz right through your auth layer. Let's fix that before someone signs their own admin token.
You built an API, added authentication, and felt secure. Then someone changed /api/orders/1001 to /api/orders/1002 and read your customer's private data. Welcome to IDOR — the vulnerability hiding in plain sight!
You built an API, added auth, deployed to production. Feels secure, right? Then someone changes one number in the URL and reads every user's private data. Welcome to IDOR — the vulnerability that's embarrassingly simple and devastatingly common.
You've sanitized your inputs, parameterized your queries, and patched your deps. But did you check if someone can silently corrupt every object in your Node.js app? Welcome to prototype pollution.
Your API is an all-you-can-eat buffet — and bots are the guy who shows up with Tupperware. Rate limiting is the bouncer that fixes that.
Your API checks the balance, then deducts it. In those few milliseconds, a hacker fires 50 requests simultaneously. Race conditions are everywhere — in payment systems, rate limiters, and coupon codes — and they're terrifyingly easy to exploit.
Your API works perfectly — it returns exactly the data it's asked for. The problem? It'll return MY data when someone ELSE asks for it. Meet IDOR, the bug that turns user IDs into skeleton keys.
You blocked JavaScript with a strict CSP, hardened your API, and patched every XSS. Then an attacker injected 3 lines of CSS and exfiltrated your CSRF tokens anyway. Here's how CSS steals secrets — and how to stop it.
You spin up a dev server on localhost:3000 and think you're safe from the internet. You're not. DNS rebinding lets attackers reach your 'private' services through a browser tab. Here's how it works and how to stop it.
Cross-Site Request Forgery is like a puppet master pulling your users' strings without them knowing. One click on a malicious link and BAM — your user just transferred money, changed their email, or deleted their account. Here's how attackers pull it off and how to stop them cold.
You're merging an innocent JSON object and accidentally giving every object in your app admin privileges. Welcome to Prototype Pollution — the JavaScript vulnerability that makes SQL injection look obvious by comparison.
Your API is open for business — but without rate limiting, one angry user (or a rogue script) can bring the whole party to a halt. Let's fix that.
You added 'Sign in with Google' in 10 minutes and felt like a genius. But did you validate the state parameter? Check the token audience? Secure your redirect URIs? Didn't think so. Let's fix that.
You change /api/orders/1234 to /api/orders/1235 in the URL bar — and suddenly you're reading someone else's order. That's IDOR, and it's the #1 API vulnerability. Let's fix it before a researcher does it for you!
Your API is an all-you-can-eat buffet, and without rate limiting, someone WILL eat everything. Learn how to protect your Node.js backend from abuse, bots, and that one guy who calls your endpoint 10,000 times a minute.
One carefully crafted string can bring your Node.js server to its knees for minutes. Regular Expression Denial of Service is the vulnerability hiding in your validation logic — and it's embarrassingly easy to trigger.
GraphQL gives developers superpowers — and gives hackers a map to your entire database. After watching teams ship GraphQL APIs that leaked schemas, enabled DoS attacks, and handed attackers free admin access, here's how to not be that team.
You deleted that .env file three commits ago. You think you're safe. You are not. Let's talk about why git never forgets, how attackers find your secrets in seconds, and how to actually fix it.
You built an API, added authentication, and felt secure. Then a hacker changed one number in the URL and read every user's private data. IDOR is embarrassingly simple, devastatingly common, and entirely preventable — here's how.
Your API is a popular club. Rate limiting is the bouncer who keeps the chaos outside. Learn how to protect your Express server from abuse, scrapers, and the dreaded thundering herd — without turning away legit users.
You built a file download endpoint, added authentication, and shipped it. Congrats — you still got hacked. IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) is the embarrassingly simple bug that's #1 in bug bounty reports and #1 in developer blind spots.
Insecure Direct Object References are stupidly simple to exploit yet responsible for massive data breaches. Here's how to find them, fix them, and never ship them again.
Your Express API is wide open and someone's already firing 10,000 requests a minute at it. Here's how to add rate limiting before your server turns into a crater.
You've heard of SQL injection and XSS, but prototype pollution? This sneaky JavaScript attack lets hackers silently corrupt your entire app by mutating Object.prototype itself — and you probably have vulnerable code in production right now. Let's fix that.
In 2021, a security researcher earned $130,000 by uploading fake packages to npm, PyPI, and RubyGems — and they executed code on machines at Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla. Your package manager might be doing the same thing to you right now.