fix: harden auth inputs, throttling, and debug exposure

backend/app.js

@@ -9,8 +9,10 @@ const app = express();
 app.use(requestIdMiddleware);
 app.use(express.json());
 
-// Serve static files from public directory
+// Expose manual API test pages in non-production environments only.
-app.use('/test', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
+  app.use("/test", express.static(path.join(__dirname, "public")));
+}
 
 const allowedOrigins = (process.env.ALLOWED_ORIGINS || "")
   .split(",")

backend/controllers/auth.controller.js

@@ -9,13 +9,26 @@ const { logError } = require("../utils/logger");
 
 exports.register = async (req, res) => {
   let { username, password, name } = req.body;
+
+  if (
+    !username ||
+    !password ||
+    !name ||
+    typeof username !== "string" ||
+    typeof password !== "string" ||
+    typeof name !== "string"
+  ) {
+    return sendError(res, 400, "Username, password, and name are required");
+  }
+
   username = username.toLowerCase();
-  console.log(`Registration attempt for ${name} => username:${username}`);
+  if (password.length < 8) {
+    return sendError(res, 400, "Password must be at least 8 characters");
+  }
 
   try {
     const hash = await bcrypt.hash(password, 10);
     const user = await User.createUser(username, hash, name);
-    console.log(`User registered: ${username}`);
 
     res.json({ message: "User registered", user });
   } catch (err) {
@@ -27,22 +40,35 @@ exports.register = async (req, res) => {
 exports.login = async (req, res) => {
   let { username, password } = req.body;
 
+  if (
+    !username ||
+    !password ||
+    typeof username !== "string" ||
+    typeof password !== "string"
+  ) {
+    return sendError(res, 400, "Username and password are required");
+  }
+
   username = username.toLowerCase();
   const user = await User.findByUsername(username);
   if (!user) {
-    console.log(`Login attempt with unknown user: ${username}`);
+    return sendError(res, 401, "Invalid credentials");
-    return sendError(res, 401, "User not found");
   }
 
   const valid = await bcrypt.compare(password, user.password);
   if (!valid) {
-    console.log(`Invalid login attempt for user ${username}`);
     return sendError(res, 401, "Invalid credentials");
   }
 
+  const jwtSecret = process.env.JWT_SECRET;
+  if (!jwtSecret) {
+    logError(req, "auth.login.jwtSecretMissing", new Error("JWT_SECRET is not configured"));
+    return sendError(res, 500, "Authentication is unavailable");
+  }
+
   const token = jwt.sign(
     { id: user.id, role: user.role },
-    process.env.JWT_SECRET,
+    jwtSecret,
     { expiresIn: "1 year" }
   );
 

backend/controllers/users.controller.js

@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@ const bcrypt = require("bcryptjs");
 const { sendError } = require("../utils/http");
 const { logError } = require("../utils/logger");
 
-exports.test = async (req, res) => {
+exports.test = async (req, res) => {
-  console.log("User route is working");
+  res.json({ message: "User route is working" });
-  res.json({ message: "User route is working" });
+};
-};
 
 exports.getAllUsers = async (req, res) => {
   const users = await User.getAllUsers();
@@ -15,10 +14,8 @@ exports.getAllUsers = async (req, res) => {
 
 
 exports.updateUserRole = async (req, res) => {
-  try {
+  try {
-    const { id, role } = req.body;
+    const { id, role } = req.body;
-
-    console.log(`Updating user ${id} to role ${role}`);
     if (!Object.values(User.ROLES).includes(role))
       return sendError(res, 400, "Invalid role");
 

backend/middleware/auth.js

@@ -10,8 +10,14 @@ async function auth(req, res, next) {
   const token = header.startsWith("Bearer ") ? header.slice(7).trim() : null;
 
   if (token) {
+    const jwtSecret = process.env.JWT_SECRET;
+    if (!jwtSecret) {
+      logError(req, "middleware.auth.jwtSecretMissing", new Error("JWT_SECRET is not configured"));
+      return sendError(res, 500, "Authentication is unavailable");
+    }
+
     try {
-      const decoded = jwt.verify(token, process.env.JWT_SECRET);
+      const decoded = jwt.verify(token, jwtSecret);
       req.user = decoded; // id + role
       return next();
     } catch (err) {

backend/middleware/rate-limit.js

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+const { sendError } = require("../utils/http");
+
+const buckets = new Map();
+
+function pruneExpired(now) {
+  for (const [key, value] of buckets.entries()) {
+    if (value.resetAt <= now) {
+      buckets.delete(key);
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+function getClientIp(req) {
+  const forwardedFor = req.headers["x-forwarded-for"];
+  if (typeof forwardedFor === "string" && forwardedFor.trim()) {
+    return forwardedFor.split(",")[0].trim();
+  }
+  return req.ip || req.socket?.remoteAddress || "unknown";
+}
+
+function createRateLimit({ keyPrefix, windowMs, max, message }) {
+  return (req, res, next) => {
+    const now = Date.now();
+
+    if (buckets.size > 5000) {
+      pruneExpired(now);
+    }
+
+    const key = `${keyPrefix}:${getClientIp(req)}`;
+    const existing = buckets.get(key);
+    const bucket =
+      !existing || existing.resetAt <= now
+        ? { count: 0, resetAt: now + windowMs }
+        : existing;
+
+    bucket.count += 1;
+    buckets.set(key, bucket);
+
+    if (bucket.count > max) {
+      const retryAfterSeconds = Math.max(
+        1,
+        Math.ceil((bucket.resetAt - now) / 1000)
+      );
+      res.setHeader("Retry-After", String(retryAfterSeconds));
+      return sendError(
+        res,
+        429,
+        message || "Too many requests. Please try again later."
+      );
+    }
+
+    return next();
+  };
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  createRateLimit,
+};

backend/routes/auth.routes.js

@@ -1,9 +1,24 @@
 const router = require("express").Router();
 const controller = require("../controllers/auth.controller");
 const User = require("../models/user.model");
-
+const { createRateLimit } = require("../middleware/rate-limit");
-router.post("/register", controller.register);
+
-router.post("/login", controller.login);
+const loginRateLimit = createRateLimit({
+  keyPrefix: "auth:login",
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
+  max: 25,
+  message: "Too many login attempts. Please try again later.",
+});
+
+const registerRateLimit = createRateLimit({
+  keyPrefix: "auth:register",
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
+  max: 10,
+  message: "Too many registration attempts. Please try again later.",
+});
+
+router.post("/register", registerRateLimit, controller.register);
+router.post("/login", loginRateLimit, controller.login);
 router.post("/logout", controller.logout);
 router.post("/", async (req, res) => {
   res.status(200).json({

backend/routes/users.routes.js

@@ -1,11 +1,21 @@
 const router = require("express").Router();
-const auth = require("../middleware/auth");
+const auth = require("../middleware/auth");
-const requireRole = require("../middleware/rbac");
+const requireRole = require("../middleware/rbac");
-const usersController = require("../controllers/users.controller");
+const usersController = require("../controllers/users.controller");
-const { ROLES } = require("../models/user.model");
+const { ROLES } = require("../models/user.model");
-
+const { createRateLimit } = require("../middleware/rate-limit");
-router.get("/exists", usersController.checkIfUserExists);
+
-router.get("/test", usersController.test);
+const userExistsRateLimit = createRateLimit({
+  keyPrefix: "users:exists",
+  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000,
+  max: 60,
+  message: "Too many availability checks. Please try again later.",
+});
+
+router.get("/exists", userExistsRateLimit, usersController.checkIfUserExists);
+if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== "production") {
+  router.get("/test", usersController.test);
+}
 
 // Current user profile routes (authenticated)
 router.get("/me", auth, usersController.getCurrentUser);

backend/utils/cookies.js

@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ function parseCookieHeader(cookieHeader) {
     const key = segment.slice(0, index).trim();
     const value = segment.slice(index + 1).trim();
     if (!key) continue;
-    cookies[key] = decodeURIComponent(value);
+    try {
+      cookies[key] = decodeURIComponent(value);
+    } catch (_) {
+      // Ignore malformed cookie values instead of throwing.
+      continue;
+    }
   }
 
   return cookies;