Security Review Checklist

Apply these security checks when reviewing or writing code that handles sensitive operations.

Instructions

Step 1: Identify Security-Sensitive Areas

Scan the changed files for:

• Authentication / authorization logic
• User input handling
• Database queries
• API endpoints
• File operations
• Cryptographic operations
• Secrets / credentials

Step 2: Check Security Controls

Review authentication, authorization, and input validation controls. For the detailed checklist, consult references/checklist.md.

Step 3: Scan for Dangerous Patterns

Use Grep to search for these red-flag patterns in the codebase:

eval(user_input)           # Code injection
exec(user_input)           # Code injection
os.system(user_input)      # Command injection
f"SELECT * FROM {table}"   # SQL injection
innerHTML = userData       # XSS
password = "hardcoded"     # Hardcoded secret
verify=False               # SSL verification disabled
shell=True                 # Shell injection risk
pickle.loads(              # Unsafe deserialization
yaml.load(                 # Unsafe YAML loading

For complete vulnerability patterns and secure alternatives, consult references/vulnerabilities.md.

Step 4: Verify Data Protection

• Sensitive data encrypted at rest and in transit (TLS)
• No secrets in source code (use environment variables or vault)
• No sensitive data in logs
• PII handled according to regulations
• API keys rotatable, different per environment

Step 5: Validate Findings

For each flagged issue:

1. Use Grep to check if the pattern is mitigated elsewhere (middleware, wrappers, framework protections)
2. Check framework-level protections before reporting (e.g., Django ORM, React JSX auto-escaping)
3. Verify the input source — internal/trusted sources may not need the same controls
4. Classify severity:
   • Critical: Remote code execution, authentication bypass, data breach
   • High: SQL injection, XSS, privilege escalation
   • Medium: Missing rate limiting, verbose error messages, weak encryption
   • Low: Informational findings, minor configuration issues

Step 6: Final Security Checklist

• No injection vulnerabilities (SQL, XSS, Command)
• Authentication and authorization properly implemented
• All user input validated
• Secrets not hardcoded
• Sensitive data encrypted
• Security events logged (without sensitive data)
• Rate limiting on public endpoints
• CORS configured correctly
• Dependencies free of known vulnerabilities

Report Format

For each finding:

• Severity: Critical / High / Medium / Low
• Location: file:line
• Issue: Brief description
• Suggestion: Specific fix or secure alternative

Examples

Example 1: SQL Injection Prevention

# INSECURE - SQL injection
query = f"SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = '{user_input}'"

# SECURE - Parameterized query
query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = %s"
cursor.execute(query, (user_input,))

Example 2: XSS Prevention

// INSECURE - XSS via innerHTML
element.innerHTML = userComment;

// SECURE - Use textContent or sanitization
element.textContent = userComment;
// or use DOMPurify for HTML content
element.innerHTML = DOMPurify.sanitize(userComment);

Example 3: Secret Management

# INSECURE - Hardcoded secret
API_KEY = "sk-abc123..."

# SECURE - Environment variable
API_KEY = os.environ["API_KEY"]

Common Issues

If security review seems incomplete:

1. Use Grep to find all usages of the flagged pattern across the codebase
2. Check framework-level middleware (auth, CSRF, etc.)
3. Consult references/vulnerabilities.md for the full OWASP Top 10 mapping