Date: 2026-02-16
Application: SafeVault - Secure ASP.NET Core Web Application with Identity
Test Results: All 119 security tests passing ✅ (41 original + 78 attack scenario tests)

Status: Fully Implemented

The application has been migrated from basic session-based authentication to ASP.NET Core Identity, providing:

• Modern Authentication: Industry-standard identity framework
• Email Confirmation: Required before first login
• Password Reset: Secure token-based password recovery
• Two-Factor Authentication: Email-based 2FA support
• Account Lockout: Automatic lockout after 5 failed attempts
• Token-Based Security: Secure tokens for email confirmation and password reset

Status: Fully Implemented

Three distinct roles with hierarchical permissions:

1. Admin Role

   • Full system access
   • User management capabilities
   • Can manage all financial records
   • Role and claim assignment
   • Account lock/unlock capabilities

2. User Role

   • Manage own financial records
   • View own reports
   • Standard user permissions

3. Guest Role

   • Read-only access to assigned data
   • No modification permissions

Status: Fully Implemented

Fine-grained permissions through custom claims:

• CanManageFinancials: Create, update, delete financial records
• CanViewReports: Access financial reports and analytics
• CanManageUsers: Administrative user management (Admin only)

Authorization policies enforce these claims throughout the application.

Status: Fully Implemented

Custom authorization handlers ensure:

• Users can only access their own financial records
• Admins can access all records for support/oversight
• Proper ownership verification before any operation
• Fine-grained CRUD permission checking

✅ Status: Fully Implemented

• Custom validation attributes for all user inputs
• SqlInjectionSafeAttribute - Detects SQL injection patterns
• XssSafeAttribute - Detects XSS attack patterns
• NoMaliciousInputAttribute - Detects dangerous characters and patterns
• Data annotations on all models
• Both client-side and server-side validation

Test Coverage: 86 tests (8 basic + 78 comprehensive attack scenarios)

• SQL injection detection and prevention
• XSS attack detection and prevention
• Malicious input detection
• Bypass attempt validation
• Real-world attack simulations

✅ Status: Fully Implemented

• Entity Framework Core with 100% parameterized queries
• No raw SQL concatenation anywhere in codebase
• All database queries use LINQ and EF Core's safe query API
• User input properly validated before database operations

Test Coverage: 7 tests

• Parameterized query verification
• SQL injection attempt blocking
• UNION SELECT prevention
• DROP TABLE attempt prevention
• User data isolation

✅ Status: Fully Implemented

• Automatic output encoding in Razor views
• Strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers
• No unsafe-inline directives in CSP
• Input sanitization validators
• No unsafe HTML rendering

Security Headers:

• Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; style-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data:; font-src 'self'; connect-src 'self'; frame-ancestors 'none';
• X-Frame-Options: DENY
• X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
• X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
• Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin

Test Coverage: 3 tests

• Script tag detection
• Event handler injection detection
• Dangerous pattern detection

✅ Status: Fully Implemented - Enhanced with Identity

• Primary: ASP.NET Core Identity password hashing (PBKDF2 with HMAC-SHA256, 100,000 iterations)
• Legacy Support: BCrypt password hashing with work factor 12
• Passwords never stored in plain text
• Strong password requirements enforced:
  • Minimum 8 characters
  • At least one uppercase letter
  • At least one lowercase letter
  • At least one number
  • At least one special character
• Account lockout after 5 failed login attempts
• 15-minute lockout duration
• Lockout counter reset on successful login
• Password history to prevent reuse (configurable)

Additional Security:

• Email confirmation required before login
• Secure password reset workflow
• Token-based password recovery
• Password strength validation

Test Coverage: 8+ tests

• Hash generation (both Identity and BCrypt)
• Password verification
• Special character handling
• Long password support
• Empty password rejection
• Password policy enforcement

✅ Status: Fully Implemented with Critical Security Fix

• AES-256 encryption for financial records
• Random IV generation for each encryption operation (CRITICAL SECURITY FIX)
• IV prepended to ciphertext for decryption
• No static IVs (prevents pattern detection attacks)
• Secure key management (no hardcoded keys in production)
• Keys must be at least 32 characters
• Application fails fast if keys not configured

Encryption Implementation:

// Each encryption generates a unique random IV
aes.GenerateIV();
// IV is prepended to encrypted data
msEncrypt.Write(aes.IV, 0, aes.IV.Length);

Test Coverage: 9 tests

• Encryption/decryption verification
• Random IV validation (different output for same input)
• Special character support
• Long string support
• Data integrity verification

✅ Status: Fully Implemented

• HTTPS enforcement
• HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) enabled
• Secure cookie flags
• HttpOnly cookies
• SameSite cookie policy

✅ Status: Fully Implemented

• Anti-forgery tokens on all state-changing operations
• Tokens properly validated
• Tokens only on POST/PUT/DELETE (not GET)
• CSRF protection for all forms

✅ Status: Fully Implemented - Enhanced with Identity

• Cookie-based authentication (ASP.NET Core Identity)
• Secure cookie configuration:
  • HttpOnly: true (prevents JavaScript access)
  • Secure: true (HTTPS only)
  • SameSite: Strict (CSRF protection)
• 60-minute sliding expiration
• Session invalidation on logout
• User data isolation
• No session fixation vulnerabilities

Status: Fully Implemented

Role-Based Authorization:

• Three-tier role system (Admin, User, Guest)
• Hierarchical permissions
• Role assignment and removal by admins
• Role-based controller and action protection

Claims-Based Authorization:

• Custom claims for fine-grained permissions
• Policy-based authorization
• Claims validated on every request
• Secure claim assignment and validation

Resource-Based Authorization:

• Custom authorization handlers
• Ownership verification for financial records
• Admin override capabilities
• Context-aware authorization decisions

Test Coverage: 9 tests

• Role creation and assignment
• Multi-role support
• Claims management
• Password policy enforcement
• Email confirmation workflow
• 2FA enablement

1. Static IV Usage (CRITICAL) ✅ FIXED

   • Original Issue: Used static IV for AES encryption
   • Security Risk: Allows pattern detection in encrypted data
   • Fix: Implemented random IV generation per encryption
   • Verification: Test added to verify different outputs for same input

2. Hardcoded Encryption Keys ✅ FIXED

   • Original Issue: Encryption keys in appsettings.json
   • Security Risk: Keys could be accidentally deployed to production
   • Fix: Removed keys from production config, added validation
   • Verification: Application fails to start without proper key configuration

3. Fallback Encryption Keys ✅ FIXED

   • Original Issue: Null-coalescing operators provided default keys
   • Security Risk: Application could run with weak default keys
   • Fix: Removed fallbacks, throw exception if not configured
   • Verification: Application requires explicit key configuration

4. Weak Content Security Policy ✅ FIXED

   • Original Issue: CSP included 'unsafe-inline' directives
   • Security Risk: Weakened XSS protection
   • Fix: Removed all 'unsafe-inline' directives
   • Verification: Strict CSP policy enforced

5. Anti-Forgery Token Misuse ✅ FIXED

   • Original Issue: Token on GET request
   • Security Risk: Unnecessary and incorrect usage
   • Fix: Removed token from GET forms
   • Verification: Tokens only on state-changing operations

Total Tests: 119
Passed: 119 ✅
Failed: 0
Success Rate: 100%

• Input Validation Tests: 8/8 ✅
• Attack Scenario Tests: 78/78 ✅
  • SQL Injection Scenarios: 29 tests
  • XSS Attack Scenarios: 30 tests
  • Form Field Attack Tests: 6 tests
  • Combined Attack Tests: 3 tests
  • Edge Cases & Obfuscation: 7 tests
  • Valid Input Verification: 3 tests
• Password Hashing Tests: 8/8 ✅
• Data Encryption Tests: 9/9 ✅
• Database Security Tests: 7/7 ✅
• Authorization Tests: 9/9 ✅

The application has been tested against comprehensive attack scenarios to verify security controls:

All SQL injection attempts are properly blocked by validation attributes and parameterized queries:

1. Authentication Bypass Attacks (10 tests)

   • Classic ' OR '1'='1 variants
   • Comment-based bypasses (--, /**/)
   • DROP TABLE attempts
   • DELETE and INSERT injection

2. UNION-Based SQL Injection (7 tests)

   • UNION SELECT with NULL columns
   • Information schema extraction attempts
   • Password dumping attempts

3. Stored Procedure Execution (4 tests)

   • EXEC sp_executesql attempts
   • xp_cmdshell command execution
   • Master database access attempts

4. Comment-Based Bypass (4 tests)

   • Multi-line comments (/* */)
   • Double dash comments (--)
   • Hash comments (#)

5. Data Manipulation Attacks (5 tests)

   • INSERT injection attempts
   • UPDATE privilege escalation
   • DROP TABLE/DATABASE attempts

All XSS attempts are properly blocked by validation attributes and output encoding:

1. Basic Script Injection (6 tests)

   • <script> tag variations
   • Cookie stealing attempts
   • Remote script loading
   • Case variation bypasses

2. Event Handler Injection (9 tests)

   • onerror, onload, onclick handlers
   • onmouseover, onfocus attacks
   • Autofocus exploitation
   • SVG-based XSS

3. JavaScript Protocol (4 tests)

   • javascript: URL scheme
   • javascript:void() variants
   • Link-based XSS

4. Iframe and Object Injection (5 tests)

   • External iframe loading
   • <embed> tag attacks
   • <object> data injection
   • Base64-encoded payloads

5. Data URI Scheme (3 tests)

   • data:text/html XSS
   • Base64-encoded script injection
   • Link-based data URI attacks

6. Eval-Based Injection (3 tests)

   • Direct eval() calls
   • Character code obfuscation
   • Base64 decode exploitation

Real-world attack simulations against actual form models:

• Login Form Attacks (2 tests)

  • Username field SQL injection
  • Username field XSS injection

• Registration Form Attacks (1 test)

  • Email field XSS injection

• Financial Record Attacks (1 test)

  • Description field XSS injection

• Search Functionality Attacks (2 tests)

  • Search term SQL injection
  • Search term XSS injection

Multi-vector attack attempts:

• Simultaneous SQL injection + XSS
• Login form with combined attacks
• Nested malicious payloads

Advanced evasion techniques:

• Case variation attacks (uppercase, mixed case)
• Whitespace manipulation
• Valid input verification (ensure no false positives)

✅ OWASP Top 10 (2021) Compliance:

1. ✅ Broken Access Control - User data isolation implemented
2. ✅ Cryptographic Failures - Strong encryption, no hardcoded secrets
3. ✅ Injection - Parameterized queries, input validation
4. ✅ Insecure Design - Secure architecture patterns
5. ✅ Security Misconfiguration - Strict security headers, secure defaults
6. ✅ Vulnerable Components - Latest stable packages
7. ✅ Identification/Authentication Failures - BCrypt hashing, account lockout
8. ✅ Software/Data Integrity Failures - Input validation, data integrity checks
9. ✅ Security Logging Failures - Logging implemented
10. ✅ Server-Side Request Forgery - Not applicable

1. Encryption Keys:

   • Use Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or similar
   • Rotate keys periodically
   • Never commit keys to source control

2. Database:

   • Use SQL Server with TDE (Transparent Data Encryption)
   • Regular backups with encryption
   • Restrict database access

3. Identity Configuration:

   • Change default admin password immediately
   • Configure email service for production (SMTP/SendGrid/AWS SES)
   • Enable 2FA for all admin accounts
   • Review and adjust lockout policies for your use case
   • Consider implementing account recovery codes

4. Monitoring:

   • Implement security event monitoring
   • Set up alerts for failed login attempts
   • Monitor for suspicious patterns
   • Log all authorization failures
   • Track role and claim changes

5. Updates:

   • Keep all NuGet packages up to date
   • Monitor security advisories
   • Apply security patches promptly

6. Additional Hardening:

   • Implement rate limiting on all endpoints (especially authentication)
   • Add request size limits
   • Configure CORS properly
   • Enable database audit logging
   • Implement IP-based lockout for brute force protection
   • Consider adding reCAPTCHA on login/registration

The SafeVault application now implements enterprise-grade authentication and authorization using ASP.NET Core Identity. All critical security vulnerabilities identified during code review have been addressed and verified through automated testing.

Security Posture: STRONG ✅
Production Ready: Yes, with proper configuration (keys, email, admin password)
Test Coverage: Comprehensive (119 tests including 78 attack scenarios)
Attack Resistance: Verified against real-world attack patterns
Vulnerability Status: All known issues resolved
Authentication: Industry-standard (ASP.NET Core Identity)
Authorization: Multi-layered (Roles + Claims + Resource-based)