Securing Your React Application

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Overview

This article covers topic - build secure react app, together some general tips

Content

• general tips for security
• open source solutions for react app

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Common Practices

Network Perspective

• use http only cookie for high value cookies
• use https
• Prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Implement CSRF protection by using techniques like CSRF tokens or SameSite cookies to ensure that requests originate from your application and not from malicious sources.
• Use Content Security Policy (CSP): Implement a Content Security Policy to restrict the sources of content that can be loaded and executed in your application, mitigating the risk of cross-site scripting and other injection attacks.

Programming Part

• validate user input at both backend and frontend side
  • frontend side: https://github.com/cure53/DOMPurify
• Apply proper authentication and authorization to corresponding resources and person
  • role based access control
  • not access -> not found to mix the information externally
• Keep dependencies up to date: have regular security check and bug fix
• Proper error handing: Handle errors gracefully and avoid revealing sensitive information in error messages. Display generic error messages to users and log detailed error information on the server-side for debugging purposes.

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Securing Your React Application

General tips

• sanitize any data user provided before passing to API services
• Add idle time management
• be prudent when using dangerousHtml
• Upgrade your dependencies regularly

Solutions

• sanitize user input: https://www.npmjs.com/package/dompurify

• user session management on frontend side: https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-idle-timer

  • default events for react-idle-timer:

  [
    "mousemove",
    "keydown",
    "wheel",
    "DOMMouseScroll",
    "mousewheel",
    "mousedown",
    "touchstart",
    "touchmove",
    "MSPointerDown",
    "MSPointerMove",
    "visibilitychange",
  ];

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react-idle-timer sample code

In a production app, the session validity and idle time are configurable. so you will need to derive the MAX_IDLE_TIME from the session validity time and sometime to remind user to take action.

• UI Sample

If user clicks the stay logged in button, frontend makes request to backend side to extend the session time.

• Code sample

  const [showIdleDialog, setShowIdleDialog] = useState(false);

  const { start, reset } = useIdleTimer({
    startManually: true,
    timeout: MAX_IDLE_TIME,
    onIdle: () => {
      setShowIdleDialog(true);
    });

  // Apply your logic to start/rset the timer programatically 

import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';

import Button from './ui/button';
import Dialog, { DialogContent, DialogFooter, DialogTitle } from './ui/dialog';

const IdleDialog = ({ onStayLoggedIn, onLogout }: IdleDialogProps) => {
  const timerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | undefined>();
  const [remainingTime, setRemainingTime] = useState(60);

  useEffect(() => {
    timerRef.current = setInterval(() => {
      setRemainingTime((prev) => {
        const nextTime = prev - 1;

        if (nextTime <= 0) {
          clearInterval(timerRef.current);
          onLogout();
        }

        return nextTime;
      });
    }, 1000);

    return () => {
      clearInterval(timerRef.current);
    };
  }, [onLogout]);

  return (
    <Dialog open>
      <DialogContent className='border border-brand'>
        <DialogTitle>Reminder</DialogTitle>
        <p className='text-dark mb-6'>
          You have been inactive for a while. To secure your data, you will be
          logged out in{' '}
          <span className='font-bold text-xl text-brand'>{remainingTime}</span>{' '}
          seconds.
        </p>
        <DialogFooter className='flex justify-end'>
          <Button onClick={onLogout} variant='outline'>
            Logout
          </Button>
          <Button
            onClick={() => {
              onStayLoggedIn();
              clearTimeout(timerRef.current);
              setRemainingTime(60);
            }}
          >
            Stay Logged In
          </Button>
        </DialogFooter>
      </DialogContent>
    </Dialog>
  );
};

export default IdleDialog;

interface IdleDialogProps {
  onLogout: () => void;
  onStayLoggedIn: () => void;
}