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sec-design.md

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BUSINESS POSTURE

  • Business Priorities and Goals:

  • Priority: Provide a robust and efficient library for Go developers to build GraphQL servers.

  • Goal: Simplify GraphQL server development in Go, enabling faster development cycles and easier maintenance.

  • Goal: Promote the adoption of GraphQL by providing a well-documented and easy-to-use library.

  • Goal: Maintain a high-quality, performant, and reliable library that meets the needs of the Go GraphQL community.

  • Business Risks:

  • Risk: Security vulnerabilities in the gqlgen library could lead to data breaches or service disruptions in applications built using it.

  • Risk: Performance bottlenecks or inefficiencies in gqlgen could negatively impact the performance of GraphQL servers.

  • Risk: Lack of comprehensive documentation or examples could hinder adoption and increase development time for users.

  • Risk: Incompatibility with future Go versions or other libraries could require significant refactoring and maintenance.

  • Risk: Open-source nature relies on community contributions, which may lead to inconsistent quality or delayed updates if community support wanes.

SECURITY POSTURE

  • Existing Security Controls:

  • security control: Standard open-source development practices, including code reviews and community contributions. (Implemented: GitHub repository workflow)

  • security control: Unit and integration tests to ensure code correctness and prevent regressions. (Implemented: GitHub repository test suite)

  • accepted risk: Reliance on community contributions for identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities.

  • accepted risk: Security of applications built using gqlgen is the responsibility of the application developers. gqlgen provides the framework but does not enforce application-level security.

  • Recommended Security Controls:

  • recommended security control: Implement automated dependency scanning to detect known vulnerabilities in third-party libraries used by gqlgen.

  • recommended security control: Integrate static application security testing (SAST) tools into the CI/CD pipeline to identify potential security flaws in the gqlgen codebase.

  • recommended security control: Provide clear and comprehensive security guidelines in the documentation for developers using gqlgen, especially regarding input validation, authorization, and data protection in GraphQL applications.

  • recommended security control: Establish a process for reporting and responding to security vulnerabilities, including a security policy and contact information.

  • recommended security control: Consider performing regular security audits or penetration testing of the gqlgen library.

  • Security Requirements:

  • Authentication:

  • Requirement: gqlgen itself does not handle authentication. Applications built with gqlgen are responsible for implementing authentication mechanisms to verify user identities.

  • Requirement: Documentation should clearly outline best practices for implementing authentication in GraphQL applications using gqlgen, including integration with common authentication providers and strategies (e.g., JWT, OAuth 2.0).

  • Authorization:

  • Requirement: gqlgen itself does not handle authorization. Applications built with gqlgen are responsible for implementing authorization logic to control access to data and operations based on user roles and permissions.

  • Requirement: Documentation should provide guidance on implementing fine-grained authorization in GraphQL applications using gqlgen, including examples of directive-based authorization and integration with authorization frameworks.

  • Input Validation:

  • Requirement: Applications built with gqlgen must perform thorough input validation to prevent injection attacks (e.g., SQL injection, GraphQL injection) and other input-related vulnerabilities.

  • Requirement: Documentation should emphasize the importance of input validation in GraphQL applications and provide examples of how to validate GraphQL queries, mutations, and input types effectively using gqlgen.

  • Cryptography:

  • Requirement: gqlgen itself does not enforce cryptography. Applications built with gqlgen should use appropriate cryptographic measures to protect sensitive data in transit and at rest.

  • Requirement: Documentation should recommend best practices for using cryptography in GraphQL applications built with gqlgen, such as using HTTPS for transport security and encrypting sensitive data in the database.

DESIGN

  • C4 CONTEXT
flowchart LR
    subgraph "GraphQL Ecosystem"
    center["gqlgen Library"]
    end

    dev["Go Developers"]
    graphql_clients["GraphQL Clients"]


    dev -- "Uses to build GraphQL servers" --> center
    center -- "Used by" --> graphql_clients

    style center fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
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  • C4 CONTEXT Elements:

  • Element:

  • Name: Go Developers

  • Type: Person

  • Description: Software developers who use the gqlgen library to build GraphQL servers in Go.

  • Responsibilities: Utilize gqlgen to create, deploy, and maintain GraphQL APIs. Implement application-level security controls in their GraphQL applications.

  • Security controls: Responsible for secure coding practices in applications built with gqlgen.

  • Element:

  • Name: gqlgen Library

  • Type: Software System

  • Description: A Go library for building GraphQL servers. It handles GraphQL schema parsing, query execution, and data fetching.

  • Responsibilities: Provide a framework for building GraphQL servers. Ensure efficient and correct GraphQL query processing. Offer extensibility points for custom logic.

  • Security controls: Input validation within the library for GraphQL syntax. Protection against common GraphQL vulnerabilities (e.g., batching attacks, complexity attacks) should be considered in the library design.

  • Element:

  • Name: GraphQL Clients

  • Type: Software System

  • Description: Applications or services that consume GraphQL APIs built using gqlgen. These can be web applications, mobile apps, or other backend services.

  • Responsibilities: Send GraphQL queries and mutations to the GraphQL server. Process and display data received from the GraphQL API.

  • Security controls: Implement secure communication with the GraphQL server (HTTPS). Handle authentication and authorization tokens securely.

  • C4 CONTAINER

flowchart LR
    subgraph "gqlgen Library"
    gqlgen_core["gqlgen Core"]
    gqlgen_codegen["Code Generation"]
    gqlgen_runtime["Runtime Engine"]
    gqlgen_directives["Directives"]
    gqlgen_plugin["Plugins"]
    end

    gqlgen_codegen -- "Generates" --> gqlgen_runtime
    gqlgen_core -- "Uses" --> gqlgen_codegen
    gqlgen_core -- "Uses" --> gqlgen_runtime
    gqlgen_runtime -- "Supports" --> gqlgen_directives
    gqlgen_runtime -- "Supports" --> gqlgen_plugin

    style gqlgen_core fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
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  • C4 CONTAINER Elements:

  • Element:

  • Name: gqlgen Core

  • Type: Library Component

  • Description: The central part of the gqlgen library, responsible for orchestrating the GraphQL server building process. It includes schema parsing, configuration management, and integration of other components.

  • Responsibilities: Manage the overall lifecycle of GraphQL server creation. Coordinate code generation and runtime execution. Provide APIs for developers to configure and extend gqlgen.

  • Security controls: Input validation for schema definitions. Secure handling of configuration parameters.

  • Element:

  • Name: Code Generation

  • Type: Library Component

  • Description: Generates Go code based on the GraphQL schema and configuration. This includes resolvers, data loaders, and GraphQL type definitions.

  • Responsibilities: Automate the creation of boilerplate code for GraphQL servers. Ensure generated code is efficient and secure.

  • Security controls: Output encoding of generated code to prevent code injection vulnerabilities. Secure handling of schema information during code generation.

  • Element:

  • Name: Runtime Engine

  • Type: Library Component

  • Description: The runtime environment for executing GraphQL queries. It handles query parsing, validation, execution, and response formatting.

  • Responsibilities: Efficiently process GraphQL queries and mutations. Enforce GraphQL schema rules and validation. Manage data fetching and resolver execution.

  • Security controls: Input validation for incoming GraphQL queries. Protection against denial-of-service attacks (e.g., query complexity limits). Secure execution of resolvers.

  • Element:

  • Name: Directives

  • Type: Library Component

  • Description: Provides support for GraphQL directives, allowing developers to add custom logic and behavior to the GraphQL schema and resolvers.

  • Responsibilities: Enable schema customization and extensibility. Facilitate implementation of cross-cutting concerns like authorization and logging.

  • Security controls: Secure handling of directive definitions and execution. Ensure directives cannot be used to bypass security controls.

  • Element:

  • Name: Plugins

  • Type: Library Component

  • Description: Allows developers to extend gqlgen functionality through plugins. Plugins can intercept and modify the GraphQL execution process.

  • Responsibilities: Provide a modular way to extend gqlgen. Enable integration with external services and libraries.

  • Security controls: Secure plugin loading and execution. Ensure plugins cannot introduce security vulnerabilities into the GraphQL server.

  • DEPLOYMENT

  • Deployment Options:

  • Option 1: Serverless Functions (e.g., AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions) - Deploying GraphQL applications built with gqlgen as serverless functions.

  • Option 2: Containerized Deployment (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) - Deploying GraphQL applications within containers orchestrated by Kubernetes or similar platforms.

  • Option 3: Virtual Machines/Bare Metal - Deploying GraphQL applications directly on virtual machines or bare metal servers.

  • Selected Deployment Option: Containerized Deployment (Docker, Kubernetes)

flowchart LR
    subgraph "Kubernetes Cluster"
        subgraph "Namespace: gqlgen-app"
            service["GraphQL Service"]
            deployment["GraphQL Deployment"]
            pod["GraphQL Pod"]
            container["gqlgen Application Container"]
        end
        ingress["Ingress Controller"]
    end

    client["GraphQL Client"]

    client -- "HTTPS Requests" --> ingress
    ingress -- "Routes to" --> service
    service -- "Forwards to" --> pod
    pod -- "Runs" --> container

    style service fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
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  • DEPLOYMENT Elements:

  • Element:

  • Name: Kubernetes Cluster

  • Type: Infrastructure

  • Description: A Kubernetes cluster providing container orchestration and management.

  • Responsibilities: Manage container deployments, scaling, and networking. Provide infrastructure for running the GraphQL application.

  • Security controls: Network policies to restrict traffic. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for cluster access. Container security scanning.

  • Element:

  • Name: Namespace: gqlgen-app

  • Type: Kubernetes Namespace

  • Description: A dedicated namespace within the Kubernetes cluster for deploying the gqlgen application.

  • Responsibilities: Isolation of gqlgen application resources within the cluster.

  • Security controls: Namespace-level resource quotas and network policies.

  • Element:

  • Name: Ingress Controller

  • Type: Kubernetes Ingress

  • Description: Manages external access to the services within the Kubernetes cluster, acting as a reverse proxy and load balancer.

  • Responsibilities: Route external requests to the GraphQL Service. Handle TLS termination. Provide load balancing and traffic management.

  • Security controls: HTTPS termination. Web Application Firewall (WAF) integration. Rate limiting.

  • Element:

  • Name: GraphQL Service

  • Type: Kubernetes Service

  • Description: A Kubernetes service that exposes the GraphQL Deployment within the cluster.

  • Responsibilities: Provide a stable endpoint for accessing the GraphQL application. Load balancing across pods in the deployment.

  • Security controls: Network policies to control access to the service.

  • Element:

  • Name: GraphQL Deployment

  • Type: Kubernetes Deployment

  • Description: Manages the desired state for the GraphQL Pods, ensuring the application is running and available.

  • Responsibilities: Deploy and update GraphQL Pods. Ensure application availability and scalability.

  • Security controls: Deployment strategies for zero-downtime updates. Pod security policies or security contexts.

  • Element:

  • Name: GraphQL Pod

  • Type: Kubernetes Pod

  • Description: The smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes, containing the GraphQL Application Container.

  • Responsibilities: Run the gqlgen application.

  • Security controls: Container security context. Resource limits.

  • Element:

  • Name: gqlgen Application Container

  • Type: Container

  • Description: A Docker container running the GraphQL application built using gqlgen.

  • Responsibilities: Execute the GraphQL server logic. Handle GraphQL requests and responses.

  • Security controls: Base image security scanning. Application-level security controls (authentication, authorization, input validation).

  • BUILD

flowchart LR
    developer["Developer"] --> source_code["Source Code (GitHub)"]
    source_code --> build_pipeline["Build Pipeline (GitHub Actions)"]
    build_pipeline --> build_artifacts["Build Artifacts (Docker Image Registry)"]

    subgraph "Build Pipeline (GitHub Actions)"
        git_checkout["Git Checkout"]
        dependency_scan["Dependency Scan"]
        go_build["Go Build"]
        unit_tests["Unit Tests"]
        sast["SAST Scan"]
        docker_build["Docker Build"]
        docker_push["Docker Push"]
    end

    build_pipeline -- "Checkout Code" --> git_checkout
    build_pipeline -- "Scan Dependencies" --> dependency_scan
    build_pipeline -- "Build Go Application" --> go_build
    build_pipeline -- "Run Unit Tests" --> unit_tests
    build_pipeline -- "Static Analysis" --> sast
    build_pipeline -- "Build Docker Image" --> docker_build
    build_pipeline -- "Push Docker Image" --> docker_push

    style build_pipeline fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
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  • BUILD Elements:
  • Element:
  • Name: Developer
  • Type: Person
  • Description: Software developer working on the gqlgen library or applications using it.
  • Responsibilities: Write code, commit changes to the repository, and trigger the build pipeline.
  • Security controls: Secure development workstation. Code review process.
  • Element:
  • Name: Source Code (GitHub)
  • Type: Code Repository
  • Description: GitHub repository hosting the gqlgen source code.
  • Responsibilities: Version control, source code management, collaboration.
  • Security controls: Access control to the repository. Branch protection rules. Audit logging.
  • Element:
  • Name: Build Pipeline (GitHub Actions)
  • Type: CI/CD System
  • Description: GitHub Actions workflow automating the build, test, and deployment process.
  • Responsibilities: Automate build process. Run security checks. Publish build artifacts.
  • Security controls: Secure pipeline configuration. Access control to pipeline definitions. Secret management for credentials.
  • Element:
  • Name: Git Checkout
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Checks out the source code from the GitHub repository.
  • Responsibilities: Retrieve the latest code for building.
  • Security controls: Ensure integrity of checked-out code (e.g., using commit hashes).
  • Element:
  • Name: Dependency Scan
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Scans project dependencies for known vulnerabilities.
  • Responsibilities: Identify vulnerable dependencies. Prevent inclusion of vulnerable libraries in build artifacts.
  • Security controls: Use of dependency scanning tools (e.g., go mod tidy -v). Fail the build if vulnerabilities are found.
  • Element:
  • Name: Go Build
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Compiles the Go code into executable binaries or libraries.
  • Responsibilities: Create build artifacts.
  • Security controls: Secure build environment. Use of Go toolchain security features.
  • Element:
  • Name: Unit Tests
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Executes unit tests to verify code functionality and prevent regressions.
  • Responsibilities: Ensure code quality and correctness.
  • Security controls: Comprehensive test suite covering security-relevant aspects.
  • Element:
  • Name: SAST Scan
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Performs static application security testing to identify potential security flaws in the code.
  • Responsibilities: Detect potential security vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle.
  • Security controls: Use of SAST tools (e.g., gosec). Fail the build if high-severity vulnerabilities are found.
  • Element:
  • Name: Docker Build
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Builds a Docker image containing the GraphQL application.
  • Responsibilities: Create container image for deployment.
  • Security controls: Use of minimal base images. Security scanning of Docker image layers.
  • Element:
  • Name: Docker Push
  • Type: Build Step
  • Description: Pushes the built Docker image to a container registry.
  • Responsibilities: Publish build artifacts for deployment.
  • Security controls: Secure communication with the container registry (HTTPS). Access control to the container registry.
  • Element:
  • Name: Build Artifacts (Docker Image Registry)
  • Type: Artifact Repository
  • Description: Container registry storing Docker images of the GraphQL application.
  • Responsibilities: Store and distribute build artifacts.
  • Security controls: Access control to the registry. Image signing and verification. Vulnerability scanning of stored images.

RISK ASSESSMENT

  • Critical Business Processes:

  • Process: Development and deployment of GraphQL APIs using the gqlgen library.

  • Process: Providing a reliable and secure GraphQL library to the Go community.

  • Data to Protect and Sensitivity:

  • Data: Source code of the gqlgen library. Sensitivity: High (Confidentiality and Integrity). Unauthorized access or modification could compromise the library's security and functionality.

  • Data: Build artifacts (Docker images). Sensitivity: Medium (Integrity and Availability). Compromised build artifacts could lead to deployment of vulnerable applications.

  • Data: User data processed by GraphQL applications built with gqlgen. Sensitivity: Varies (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability). Sensitivity depends on the specific application and the type of data handled. gqlgen itself does not handle user data directly, but applications built with it do.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

  • BUSINESS POSTURE:

  • Assumption: The primary business goal is to provide a high-quality, open-source GraphQL library for the Go community.

  • Question: Are there specific business objectives related to commercialization or support services for gqlgen?

  • Question: What is the tolerance for security vulnerabilities in the gqlgen library? Is there a defined SLA for addressing security issues?

  • SECURITY POSTURE:

  • Assumption: Security is a significant concern for users of gqlgen, especially when building public-facing GraphQL APIs.

  • Question: Are there any specific compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS) that applications built with gqlgen need to adhere to?

  • Question: Is there a dedicated security team or individual responsible for overseeing the security of the gqlgen project?

  • DESIGN:

  • Assumption: gqlgen is designed to be flexible and extensible to support various GraphQL use cases and deployment environments.

  • Question: Are there any specific architectural patterns or design principles that were followed during the development of gqlgen with security in mind?

  • Question: What are the intended mechanisms for developers to extend and customize gqlgen securely (e.g., plugins, directives)?