fix(auth): add brute-force rate limiting on POST /login (issue #94 bug 6)

This commit is contained in:
Zac Gaetano 2026-05-26 07:39:14 -04:00
parent bacdb9f49c
commit 6ee284e3f6

View file

@ -12,6 +12,78 @@ import pool from '../db/pool.js';
const router = express.Router();
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// BUG FIX #6: In-memory login rate limiter.
//
// Brute-force protection for POST /login. Tracks failed attempts per
// (IP, username) pair; after MAX_ATTEMPTS failures within WINDOW_MS the
// endpoint returns 429 for LOCKOUT_MS regardless of the password supplied.
//
// This is intentionally simple — no Redis dependency, no persistent state
// across restarts. For a production deployment behind a load balancer, use
// express-rate-limit with a Redis store or a dedicated WAF rule instead.
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
const MAX_ATTEMPTS = parseInt(process.env.LOGIN_MAX_ATTEMPTS || '10', 10);
const WINDOW_MS = parseInt(process.env.LOGIN_WINDOW_MS || String(15 * 60 * 1000), 10); // 15 min
const LOCKOUT_MS = parseInt(process.env.LOGIN_LOCKOUT_MS || String(15 * 60 * 1000), 10); // 15 min
// Map key → { attempts: number, lockedUntil: number | null, firstAttempt: number }
const loginAttempts = new Map();
// Housekeeping: prune expired entries every 10 min so the Map doesn't grow
// unboundedly on high-traffic or attack traffic.
setInterval(() => {
const now = Date.now();
for (const [key, entry] of loginAttempts.entries()) {
const expired = entry.lockedUntil
? now > entry.lockedUntil
: now - entry.firstAttempt > WINDOW_MS;
if (expired) loginAttempts.delete(key);
}
}, 10 * 60 * 1000).unref();
function getAttemptKey(req, username) {
// Use the real client IP (trust proxy headers set by nginx/load-balancer)
const ip = req.ip || req.socket.remoteAddress || 'unknown';
return `${ip}:${(username || '').trim().toLowerCase()}`;
}
function checkRateLimit(req, username) {
const key = getAttemptKey(req, username);
const now = Date.now();
const entry = loginAttempts.get(key);
if (entry) {
// Still locked out?
if (entry.lockedUntil && now < entry.lockedUntil) {
const retryAfterSec = Math.ceil((entry.lockedUntil - now) / 1000);
return { limited: true, retryAfterSec };
}
// Window expired — reset
if (now - entry.firstAttempt > WINDOW_MS) {
loginAttempts.delete(key);
}
}
return { limited: false };
}
function recordFailedAttempt(req, username) {
const key = getAttemptKey(req, username);
const now = Date.now();
const entry = loginAttempts.get(key) || { attempts: 0, lockedUntil: null, firstAttempt: now };
// Don't update firstAttempt if there's an existing entry within the window
entry.attempts += 1;
if (entry.attempts >= MAX_ATTEMPTS) {
entry.lockedUntil = now + LOCKOUT_MS;
}
loginAttempts.set(key, entry);
}
function clearAttempts(req, username) {
loginAttempts.delete(getAttemptKey(req, username));
}
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
// POST /login
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ -23,6 +95,15 @@ router.post('/login', async (req, res, next) => {
return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Username and password are required' });
}
// BUG FIX #6: Check rate limit before hitting the DB or bcrypt.
const rateCheck = checkRateLimit(req, username);
if (rateCheck.limited) {
res.set('Retry-After', String(rateCheck.retryAfterSec));
return res.status(429).json({
error: `Too many failed login attempts. Try again in ${rateCheck.retryAfterSec} seconds.`,
});
}
const result = await pool.query(
'SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = $1',
[username.trim().toLowerCase()]
@ -31,6 +112,7 @@ router.post('/login', async (req, res, next) => {
if (result.rows.length === 0) {
// Timing-safe: still run compare on a dummy hash so response time is constant
await bcrypt.compare(password, '$2b$12$invalidhashpadding000000000000000000000000000000000000');
recordFailedAttempt(req, username);
return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
}
@ -38,9 +120,13 @@ router.post('/login', async (req, res, next) => {
const valid = await bcrypt.compare(password, user.password_hash);
if (!valid) {
recordFailedAttempt(req, username);
return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
}
// Successful login — clear any accumulated failed attempts
clearAttempts(req, username);
// Regenerate session ID to prevent fixation attacks
req.session.regenerate((err) => {
if (err) return next(err);