NodeJS Broken Access Control Guide: Examples and Prevention

Access control is a critical aspect of application security, involving policies and mechanisms to manage user access to system resources, commonly known as authorization. The article explores the challenges of implementing robust access control, discussing vulnerabilities such as insecure IDs, path traversal, file permission issues, and client caching. It underscores the complexity of managing access due to system architecture dependencies and multiple user roles, recommending the use of established solutions like OAuth 2.0 and JWT instead of building systems from scratch. The text also addresses broken access control, highlighting how easily exploitable vulnerabilities can have severe consequences if not quickly addressed. It provides solutions for mitigating these vulnerabilities, such as using global unique identifiers (GUIDs) for IDs, validating user inputs to prevent path traversal, securing file permissions, and avoiding storing sensitive information in client browsers. The article emphasizes the importance of leveraging sophisticated solutions to protect platforms and user information from evolving threats, stressing the responsibility of developers to ensure security.