Version: 1.0
Last Updated: May 1, 2026
Status: Active

1. Vulnerability Reporting
2. Security Architecture
3. Authentication & Authorization
4. Data Protection
5. API Security
6. Dependency Management
7. Security Headers
8. Rate Limiting
9. Secrets Management
10. Incident Response
11. Compliance

We take security vulnerabilities seriously. If you discover a security vulnerability, please:

1. Do NOT open a public GitHub issue

2. Email security@example.com with:

   • Description of the vulnerability
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Potential impact
   • Suggested fix (if any)

3. We will:

   • Acknowledge receipt within 48 hours
   • Provide initial assessment within 1 week
   • Work with you on a fix timeline
   • Credit you in release notes (if desired)

The application implements multiple layers of security:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Client (Browser)                       │
│  - HTTPS only                           │
│  - CSP headers                          │
│  - Input validation                     │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
           │ HTTPS/TLS 1.3+
┌──────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  Edge/CDN (Cloudflare/Vercel)           │
│  - DDoS protection                      │
│  - WAF rules                            │
│  - Rate limiting                        │
│  - Security headers injection           │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
           │
┌──────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  Application Layer (Next.js)            │
│  - Request validation                   │
│  - CORS enforcement                     │
│  - Rate limiting                        │
│  - Authentication checks                │
│  - Input sanitization                   │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
           │
┌──────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  Business Logic (Payload CMS)           │
│  - Authorization checks                 │
│  - Data validation                      │
│  - Audit logging                        │
└──────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
           │
┌──────────▼──────────────────────────────┐
│  Database                               │
│  - Parameterized queries                │
│  - Encryption at rest                   │
│  - Access control                       │
│  - Backups & recovery                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

1. Email/Password (Session)

   • Hashed with bcrypt (min 12 rounds)
   • Session stored in secure HTTP-only cookies
   • CSRF tokens validated on all state-changing requests

2. OAuth 2.0 (Federated)

   • Google, GitHub, etc. via standard providers
   • OpenID Connect validation
   • No credential storage locally

3. API Keys (Service-to-Service)

   • Base64-encoded, 32+ character minimum
   • Rate limited per key
   • Rotated every 90 days

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

  • Roles: admin, moderator, user, guest
  • Permissions checked on every request
  • Enforced at Payload CMS level

• Field-Level Security

  • Sensitive fields hidden from unauthorized users
  • Personal data access logged
  • Compliance with GDPR/CCPA

• Minimum 12 characters
• Must include: uppercase, lowercase, number, special character
• No common passwords (against known breach database)
• Rotation every 90 days for admin accounts
• No reuse of last 5 passwords

At Rest:

• Database: Encrypted via platform provider (Vercel KMS, AWS KMS, etc.)
• Files: Encrypted in storage backends (R2, Vercel Blob, S3)
• Backups: Encrypted and geographically distributed

In Transit:

• HTTPS/TLS 1.3+ enforced (HSTS header)
• Certificate pinning not required (handled by browser/OS)
• Perfect Forward Secrecy enabled

• Personal Identifiable Information (PII) fields are:
  • Flagged in code with @pii comment
  • Logged with redaction
  • Never sent to external services without explicit consent
  • Encrypted in database
  • Accessible only to authorized users with audit logging

All external inputs must be:

1. Type-checked — TypeScript strict mode enforced
2. Schema-validated — Zod/Payload CMS validation
3. Length-limited — Prevent buffer overflows
4. Sanitized — XSS prevention via React escaping
5. Parameterized — SQL injection prevention

• ✅ Payload CMS ORM handles parameterization
• ✅ No string concatenation in queries
• ✅ Type-safe query builders used
• ✅ Regular dependency scanning for ORM vulnerabilities

• ✅ React auto-escapes JSX expressions
• ✅ dangerouslySetInnerHTML forbidden (linted)
• ✅ User-generated content sanitized via DOMPurify
• ✅ Content Security Policy headers enforced

• ✅ POST/PUT/DELETE require CSRF token
• ✅ Token validated before state changes
• ✅ SameSite cookie attribute set to Strict
• ✅ Payload CMS middleware enforces checks

Implemented at multiple levels:

API Endpoints:

• 100 requests per minute per IP (default)
• 1000 requests per minute per authenticated user
• Configurable per-endpoint limits

Authentication:

• 5 failed login attempts → 15-minute lockout
• 10 signup attempts → IP-based rate limit

Payment:

• 1 concurrent checkout per user
• Max 10 payment attempts per 24 hours

See src/middleware/security.ts for implementation.

1. Automated:

   • Dependabot scans daily
   • GitHub code scanning enabled
   • SAST (Static Application Security Testing) on every PR

2. Manual:

   • Quarterly security audits
   • Dependency evaluation for new additions
   • EOL tracking for critical dependencies

1. Critical — Immediately patch and deploy
2. High — Patch within 48 hours
3. Medium — Patch within 1 week
4. Low — Batch in next release (unless >30 days old)

All responses include:

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Permissions-Policy: geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=()
Content-Security-Policy: [restrictive policy]

See src/middleware/security.ts for configuration.

Current Policy:

• Scripts from: Self + inline (for Next.js optimization)
• Styles from: Self + inline
• Images from: Self, data URIs, HTTPS
• Frames: Self only
• Form submissions: Self only

Future (Stricter):

• Remove unsafe-inline for scripts
• Implement nonce-based inline script allowlist
• Add external monitoring endpoint

// Default limits in src/middleware/security.ts
const rateLimiter = {
  maxRequests: 100,      // Requests per window
  windowMs: 60000,        // Window duration (1 minute)
}

// Example: Login endpoint with tighter limits
export const POST = withRateLimit(
  loginHandler,
  { maxRequests: 5, windowMs: 900000 } // 5 per 15 minutes
)

Rate limiting is skipped for:

• Health check endpoints (/api/health)
• Static assets (/_next/*, /public/*)
• Well-known endpoints (/.well-known/*)

Never commit secrets! Use .env.local (git-ignored):

# .env.local
NEXT_PRIVATE_REVALIdATION_KEY=your-secret-here
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_...
DATABASE_PASSWORD=...

• Development: .env.local (machine-specific)
• Staging/Production:
  • Cloudflare Workers: Workers Secrets
  • Vercel: Environment variables (encrypted)
  • Docker: Docker secrets + Kubernetes
  • AWS: AWS Secrets Manager

1. Detect & Isolate

   • Alert team immediately
   • Disable affected service if needed
   • Collect evidence (logs, metrics)

2. Assess Impact

   • Determine scope: How many users/records affected?
   • Timeline: When did incident occur?
   • Type: Data breach, service disruption, code injection?

3. Remediate

   • Patch vulnerability immediately
   • Rotate affected credentials
   • Deploy fix to production

4. Communicate

   • Notify affected users within 24 hours
   • Publish incident report
   • Post-mortem within 1 week

5. Prevent Recurrence

   • Add automated detection (alerting)
   • Implement test case
   • Update security documentation

All security incidents trigger:

• Written incident report
• Root cause analysis
• Action items with owners and deadlines
• Shared learnings with team

• OWASP Top 10 — Mitigations implemented
• CWE/SANS Top 25 — Addressed in code review
• GDPR — User data handling, deletion, portability
• CCPA — Privacy controls, data access
• SOC 2 — Audit trail, access controls, encryption

• Input validation on all user inputs
• SQL injection prevention (parameterized queries)
• XSS prevention (output encoding)
• CSRF protection (tokens on state changes)
• Authentication enforced (no auth bypass)
• Authorization checked (no privilege escalation)
• Rate limiting enabled (prevent abuse)
• HTTPS enforced (TLS 1.3+)
• Security headers set (CSP, HSTS, etc.)
• Logging enabled (audit trail)
• Error handling (no info disclosure)
• Dependency scanning (no known vulnerabilities)
• Code review (peer review before merge)
• Testing (unit + integration coverage >80%)

Every January:

1. Third-party penetration testing
2. Code review by external firm
3. Dependency full inventory
4. Compliance certification renewal
5. Team security training

• Email: security@example.com
• Response Time: <4 hours for critical issues
• Disclosure: 90-day grace period before public disclosure

• OWASP Top 10 2021
• CWE/SANS Top 25
• Node.js Security Best Practices
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Last Reviewed: May 1, 2026
Next Review: August 1, 2026
Approved By: Security Team Lead