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sec-design.md

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Okay, let's dive into designing a comprehensive document for the Dingo API project, suitable for threat modeling and architectural review.

BUSINESS POSTURE

Business Priorities and Goals:

  • Provide a stable and reliable API for accessing core application functionality. The repository's name ("api") suggests it's a central point of interaction for clients.
  • Enable rapid development and iteration on new features exposed through the API. The use of Go (implied by the repository) suggests a focus on performance and developer productivity.
  • Maintain a small, focused codebase. The limited number of files suggests a minimalist approach.
  • Potentially serve as a foundation for future expansion and integration with other services.

Most Important Business Risks:

  • Unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionality exposed by the API.
  • API downtime or performance degradation impacting dependent applications and users.
  • Vulnerabilities in the API leading to data breaches or system compromise.
  • Difficulty in scaling the API to meet increasing demand.
  • Inability to quickly adapt the API to changing business requirements.
  • Supply chain attacks.

SECURITY POSTURE

Existing Security Controls (Inferred from the code and common Go practices):

  • security control: Input validation: The Go code likely includes checks on incoming request data (e.g., data types, lengths, formats). This needs to be verified in the code. Location: main.go and potentially in handler functions.
  • security control: Error handling: The Go code likely includes error handling to prevent information leakage and ensure graceful degradation. Location: Throughout the codebase, particularly in main.go and handler functions.
  • security control: Use of standard libraries: The code appears to use Go's built-in net/http package, which is generally well-vetted. Location: main.go (imports).
  • security control: Limited external dependencies: The go.mod file (if present) should be reviewed to minimize the attack surface introduced by third-party libraries. Location: Project root.
  • security control: Deployment using containers: The project is likely deployed using containers (e.g., Docker), which provides some isolation. Location: Deployment configuration (not present in the repository itself, but inferred).

Accepted Risks:

  • accepted risk: Lack of explicit authentication and authorization mechanisms: The provided code snippet doesn't show any authentication or authorization. This is a major accepted risk that must be addressed.
  • accepted risk: Potential for denial-of-service (DoS) attacks: Without specific rate limiting or resource management, the API could be vulnerable to DoS.
  • accepted risk: Limited logging and monitoring: The provided code snippet lacks comprehensive logging, making it difficult to detect and investigate security incidents.
  • accepted risk: No HTTPS: The provided code snippet does not show any TLS configuration.

Recommended Security Controls (High Priority):

  • Implement robust authentication (e.g., API keys, JWT, OAuth 2.0).
  • Implement authorization (e.g., role-based access control, attribute-based access control).
  • Add comprehensive logging and monitoring (including audit logs).
  • Implement rate limiting and resource management to prevent DoS.
  • Enforce HTTPS (TLS) for all communication.
  • Implement input sanitization and output encoding to prevent injection attacks (e.g., XSS, SQLi, command injection).
  • Regularly update dependencies to patch known vulnerabilities.
  • Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against common web attacks.
  • Perform regular security assessments (penetration testing, code reviews).
  • Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers.

Security Requirements:

  • Authentication: The API MUST authenticate all requests before processing them. Supported mechanisms SHOULD include API keys and JWT.
  • Authorization: The API MUST enforce authorization checks to ensure that authenticated users only have access to the resources and actions they are permitted to use. A role-based access control model SHOULD be considered.
  • Input Validation: The API MUST validate all input data against a strict schema, including data types, lengths, formats, and allowed values. Invalid input MUST be rejected with appropriate error messages.
  • Cryptography: The API MUST use strong, industry-standard cryptographic algorithms and protocols for all sensitive operations, including password hashing, data encryption, and secure communication (HTTPS). Secrets (API keys, passwords) MUST be stored securely (e.g., using a secrets management service).
  • Output Encoding: The API must encode all output to prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities.

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

graph LR
    subgraph Dingo API System
        API[("API")]
    end
    User(("User/Client Application")) --> API
    ExternalService(("External Service\n(e.g., Database, Third-party API)")) -.-> API
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element 1

    • Name: User/Client Application
    • Type: User
    • Description: Represents any user or application that interacts with the Dingo API.
    • Responsibilities: Sending requests to the API, receiving and processing responses.
    • Security controls: Authenticates with the API using a secure mechanism (e.g., API key, JWT). Handles API responses securely. Implements appropriate error handling.

  • Element 2

    • Name: API
    • Type: System
    • Description: The Dingo API itself, providing access to core application functionality.
    • Responsibilities: Handling incoming requests, validating input, processing data, interacting with external services, returning responses.
    • Security controls: Authentication, authorization, input validation, output encoding, rate limiting, error handling, secure communication (HTTPS), logging and monitoring.

  • Element 3

    • Name: External Service
    • Type: System
    • Description: Any external system that the Dingo API interacts with, such as a database, a third-party API, or a message queue.
    • Responsibilities: Providing data or services to the Dingo API.
    • Security controls: Depends on the specific service. The API should authenticate with external services securely and validate any data received from them.

C4 CONTAINER

graph LR
    subgraph Dingo API System
        API[("API Container\n(Go Web Server)")]
    end
    User(("User/Client Application")) --> API
    ExternalService(("External Service\n(e.g., Database, Third-party API)")) -.-> API
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element 1

    • Name: User/Client Application
    • Type: User
    • Description: Represents any user or application that interacts with the Dingo API.
    • Responsibilities: Sending requests to the API, receiving and processing responses.
    • Security controls: Authenticates with the API using a secure mechanism (e.g., API key, JWT). Handles API responses securely. Implements appropriate error handling.

  • Element 2

    • Name: API Container (Go Web Server)
    • Type: Container
    • Description: A container running the Go web server that hosts the Dingo API.
    • Responsibilities: Handling incoming requests, routing requests to appropriate handlers, executing business logic, interacting with external services, returning responses.
    • Security controls: Authentication, authorization, input validation, output encoding, rate limiting, error handling, secure communication (HTTPS), logging and monitoring. Implemented within the Go code and potentially through container configuration (e.g., network policies).

  • Element 3

    • Name: External Service
    • Type: System/Container
    • Description: Any external system that the Dingo API interacts with, such as a database, a third-party API, or a message queue.
    • Responsibilities: Providing data or services to the Dingo API.
    • Security controls: Depends on the specific service. The API should authenticate with external services securely and validate any data received from them.

DEPLOYMENT

Possible Deployment Solutions:

  1. Bare Metal/Virtual Machine: Deploy the Go binary directly onto a server. Least desirable due to management overhead.
  2. Docker Container (Standalone): Package the API into a Docker container and run it on a single host. Simple, but limited scalability.
  3. Docker Compose: Use Docker Compose to define and manage the API container and any dependent services (e.g., database). Suitable for development and small-scale deployments.
  4. Kubernetes: Deploy the API as a set of pods within a Kubernetes cluster. Provides high availability, scalability, and resilience. Most complex, but best for production.
  5. Cloud-Specific Managed Services (e.g., AWS ECS, Google Cloud Run, Azure Container Instances): Leverage cloud provider services for container orchestration. Balances ease of use with scalability.

Chosen Solution (for detailed description): Kubernetes

graph LR
    subgraph Kubernetes Cluster
        subgraph Namespace (dingo-api)
            Pod1(("API Pod 1"))
            Pod2(("API Pod 2"))
            Pod3(("API Pod 3"))
            Service[("API Service\n(Load Balancer)")]
        end
    end
    Ingress[("Ingress\n(e.g., Nginx)")] --> Service
    User(("User/Client Application")) --> Ingress
    ExternalService(("External Service\n(e.g., Managed Database)")) -.-> Pod1
    ExternalService -.-> Pod2
    ExternalService -.-> Pod3
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Element Descriptions:

  • Element 1

    • Name: User/Client Application
    • Type: User
    • Description: Represents any user or application that interacts with the Dingo API.
    • Responsibilities: Sending requests to the API, receiving and processing responses.
    • Security controls: Authenticates with the API using a secure mechanism (e.g., API key, JWT). Handles API responses securely. Implements appropriate error handling.

  • Element 2

    • Name: Ingress
    • Type: Infrastructure
    • Description: An Ingress controller (e.g., Nginx Ingress Controller) that routes external traffic to the API Service.
    • Responsibilities: Terminating TLS, routing traffic based on hostnames and paths, potentially performing authentication/authorization (depending on configuration).
    • Security controls: TLS termination, WAF integration, potentially authentication/authorization offloading.

  • Element 3

    • Name: API Service
    • Type: Kubernetes Service
    • Description: A Kubernetes Service that provides a stable endpoint for accessing the API Pods. Acts as a load balancer.
    • Responsibilities: Distributing traffic across the available API Pods.
    • Security controls: Network policies to restrict access to the Service.

  • Element 4, 5, 6

    • Name: API Pod 1, API Pod 2, API Pod 3
    • Type: Kubernetes Pod
    • Description: Instances of the Dingo API container running within the Kubernetes cluster.
    • Responsibilities: Handling incoming requests, processing data, interacting with external services, returning responses.
    • Security controls: All security controls implemented within the API container (see C4 Container section). Additionally, Kubernetes-specific controls like network policies, pod security policies, and resource quotas.

  • Element 7

    • Name: External Service
    • Type: External System
    • Description: Any external system that the Dingo API interacts with (e.g., a managed database service).
    • Responsibilities: Providing data or services to the Dingo API.
    • Security controls: Managed by the cloud provider or the external service provider. The API Pods should authenticate securely with the external service.

BUILD

graph LR
    Developer[("Developer")] --> GitRepo[("Git Repository\n(GitHub)")]
    GitRepo --> CI[("CI/CD Pipeline\n(e.g., GitHub Actions)")]
    CI --> SAST[("SAST\n(e.g., gosec)")]
    CI --> SCA[("SCA\n(e.g., Snyk)")]
    CI --> Build[("Build\n(go build)")]
    Build --> Docker[("Docker Build")]
    Docker --> ImageRegistry[("Image Registry\n(e.g., Docker Hub, ECR)")]
    SAST --> Report[("Security Report")]
    SCA --> Report
    CI --> Deploy[("Deploy to Kubernetes")]
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Build Process Description:

  1. Developer: The developer writes code and pushes it to the Git repository (GitHub).
  2. Git Repository: The code is stored in the Git repository.
  3. CI/CD Pipeline: A CI/CD pipeline (e.g., GitHub Actions) is triggered by changes to the repository.
  4. SAST: A Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tool (e.g., gosec) analyzes the Go code for potential vulnerabilities.
  5. SCA: A Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tool (e.g., Snyk, Dependabot) analyzes the project's dependencies for known vulnerabilities.
  6. Build: The Go code is compiled into an executable binary (go build).
  7. Docker Build: The executable binary is packaged into a Docker image.
  8. Image Registry: The Docker image is pushed to an image registry (e.g., Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google Container Registry).
  9. Security Report: The SAST and SCA tools generate reports that are reviewed for any identified vulnerabilities.
  10. Deploy: The CI/CD pipeline deploys the new Docker image to the Kubernetes cluster.

Security Controls in Build Process:

  • security control: Code review: All code changes should be reviewed by another developer before being merged.
  • security control: SAST: Static analysis to identify vulnerabilities in the code.
  • security control: SCA: Dependency analysis to identify vulnerabilities in third-party libraries.
  • security control: Build automation: The build process is automated to ensure consistency and repeatability.
  • security control: Immutable infrastructure: Docker images are immutable, ensuring that the same code is deployed to all environments.
  • security control: Least privilege: The CI/CD pipeline should run with the minimum necessary privileges.
  • security control: Secret management: Secrets (e.g., API keys, database credentials) should be stored securely and not hardcoded in the code or build scripts.

RISK ASSESSMENT

Critical Business Processes:

  • API request handling: The core process of receiving, processing, and responding to API requests.
  • Data access: Accessing and manipulating data stored in external services (e.g., databases).
  • Integration with external services: Interacting with third-party APIs and services.

Data Sensitivity:

  • The API likely handles data, but the sensitivity is unknown without more context. Examples of potential data and sensitivity levels:
    • Usernames/Emails: Personally Identifiable Information (PII) - Medium sensitivity.
    • Passwords (hashed): Sensitive authentication data - High sensitivity.
    • Financial data (transaction history, account balances): Highly sensitive PII - High sensitivity.
    • Internal application data (non-PII): Low to medium sensitivity, depending on the specific data.
    • API Keys/Tokens: High sensitivity.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

Questions:

  • What specific data does the API handle? What are the data sensitivity classifications?
  • What are the expected traffic patterns and scalability requirements?
  • Are there any existing security policies or compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS)?
  • What external services does the API interact with?
  • What is the intended user base (internal users, external developers, public)?
  • Is there any existing infrastructure (e.g., Kubernetes cluster, cloud account)?
  • What is the budget for security tools and infrastructure?
  • What level of logging and monitoring is required?
  • Are there any specific performance requirements?
  • What is the development team's experience with secure coding practices?

Assumptions:

  • BUSINESS POSTURE: The API is intended for production use and requires a reasonable level of security.
  • SECURITY POSTURE: No existing authentication or authorization is in place. HTTPS is not currently enforced. Basic input validation is likely present, but needs verification.
  • DESIGN: The API is relatively simple and can be deployed as a single containerized application. Kubernetes is a suitable deployment platform for scalability and resilience. A CI/CD pipeline is desirable for automated builds and deployments.