The document outlines ten effective strategies for securing Spring Boot applications. Key recommendations include using HTTPS, scanning for vulnerable dependencies, enabling CSRF protection, implementing content security policies, using OpenID Connect for authentication, and ensuring secure password hashing. Additional tips involve maintaining up-to-date libraries, securely storing secrets, testing with OWASP's ZAP tool, and conducting thorough code reviews.

1. Brian Demers and Matt Raible
10 Excellent Ways to Secure Spring Boot Apps
@briandemers | @mraible ��

2. 10 Excellent Ways...
https://bit.ly/secure-spring-boot

3. 1. Use HTTPS

4. Use HTTPS Everywhere!
6
Let’s Encrypt offers free HTTPS certificates
certbot can be used to generate certificates
mkcert can be used to create localhost certificates
Spring Boot Starter ACME for automating certificates

5. howhttps.works

6. @Configuration
public class SecurityConfiguration extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http.requiresChannel().anyRequest().requiresSecure();
}
}

7. @Configuration
public class SecurityConfiguration extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http.requiresChannel()
.requestMatchers(r -> r.getHeader("X-Forwarded-Proto") != null)
.requiresSecure();
}
}

8. 2. Scan Dependencies

10. Java Struts 2 RCE Vulnerability CVE 2017-5638
Source: SecurityIntelligence.com

11. Your App

12. Your App
Your
Code

13. Serverless Example: Fetch file & store in S3
'use strict';
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const AWS = require('aws-sdk'); // eslint-disable-line
import/no-extraneous-dependencies
const s3 = new AWS.S3();
module.exports.save = (event, context, callback) => {
fetch(event.image_url)
.then((response) => {
if (response.ok) {
return response;
}
return Promise.reject(new Error(
`Failed to fetch ${response.url}: ${response.status}
${response.statusText}`));
})
.then(response => response.buffer())
.then(buffer => (
s3.putObject({
Bucket: process.env.BUCKET,
Key: event.key,
Body: buffer,
}).promise()
))
.then(v => callback(null, v), callback);
};
19 Lines of Code
https://github.com/serverless/examples/tree/master/aws-node-fetch-file-and-store-in-s3

14. Serverless Example: Fetch file & store in S3
'use strict';
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const AWS = require('aws-sdk'); // eslint-disable-line
import/no-extraneous-dependencies
const s3 = new AWS.S3();
module.exports.save = (event, context, callback) => {
fetch(event.image_url)
.then((response) => {
if (response.ok) {
return response;
}
return Promise.reject(new Error(
`Failed to fetch ${response.url}: ${response.status}
${response.statusText}`));
})
.then(response => response.buffer())
.then(buffer => (
s3.putObject({
Bucket: process.env.BUCKET,
Key: event.key,
Body: buffer,
}).promise()
))
.then(v => callback(null, v), callback);
};
19 Lines of Code
2 Direct dependencies
https://github.com/serverless/examples/tree/master/aws-node-fetch-file-and-store-in-s3
{
"dependencies": {
"aws-sdk": "^2.7.9",
"node-fetch": "^1.6.3"
}
}

15. Serverless Example: Fetch file & store in S3
'use strict';
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const AWS = require('aws-sdk'); // eslint-disable-line
import/no-extraneous-dependencies
const s3 = new AWS.S3();
module.exports.save = (event, context, callback) => {
fetch(event.image_url)
.then((response) => {
if (response.ok) {
return response;
}
return Promise.reject(new Error(
`Failed to fetch ${response.url}: ${response.status}
${response.statusText}`));
})
.then(response => response.buffer())
.then(buffer => (
s3.putObject({
Bucket: process.env.BUCKET,
Key: event.key,
Body: buffer,
}).promise()
))
.then(v => callback(null, v), callback);
};
19 Lines of Code
2 Direct dependencies
19 dependencies (incl. indirect)
https://github.com/serverless/examples/tree/master/aws-node-fetch-file-and-store-in-s3
{
"dependencies": {
"aws-sdk": "^2.7.9",
"node-fetch": "^1.6.3"
}
}

16. Serverless Example: Fetch file & store in S3
'use strict';
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
const AWS = require('aws-sdk'); // eslint-disable-line
import/no-extraneous-dependencies
const s3 = new AWS.S3();
module.exports.save = (event, context, callback) => {
fetch(event.image_url)
.then((response) => {
if (response.ok) {
return response;
}
return Promise.reject(new Error(
`Failed to fetch ${response.url}: ${response.status}
${response.statusText}`));
})
.then(response => response.buffer())
.then(buffer => (
s3.putObject({
Bucket: process.env.BUCKET,
Key: event.key,
Body: buffer,
}).promise()
))
.then(v => callback(null, v), callback);
};
19 Lines of Code
2 Direct dependencies
19 dependencies (incl. indirect)
191,155 Lines of Code 😱
https://github.com/serverless/examples/tree/master/aws-node-fetch-file-and-store-in-s3
{
"dependencies": {
"aws-sdk": "^2.7.9",
"node-fetch": "^1.6.3"
}
}

17. https://snyk.io/opensourcesecurity-2019

18. Demo

19. Matt's Life Hack: Don't fix your socks; fix your toes!

20. 3. Upgrade Libraries

22. How well do you know your dependencies?
24
Dependencies
Dependency
Health
Indirect
Dependencies
Regular
Commits
Regular
Releases

23. Check for Updates with npm
npm i -g npm-check-updates
ncu
https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-check-updates

24. Check for Updates with Maven
mvn versions:display-dependency-updates
https://www.mojohaus.org/versions-maven-plugin

25. Check for Updates with Gradle
gradle dependencyUpdates
-Drevision=release
https://github.com/ben-manes/gradle-versions-plugin

26. 4. Enable CSRF

27. @EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfiguration extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http
.csrf()
.csrfTokenRepository(
CookieCsrfTokenRepository.withHttpOnlyFalse());
}
}

28. Brian's Life Hack:
Tennis Ball Storage

29. 5. Use a CSP

30. Default Spring Security Headers
Cache-Control: no-cache, no-store, max-age=0, must-revalidate
Pragma: no-cache
Expires: 0
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
X-Frame-Options: DENY
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block

31. @EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfiguration extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
@Override
protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
http.headers()
.contentSecurityPolicy("script-src 'self' " +
"https://trustedscripts.example.com; " +
"object-src https://trustedplugins.example.com; " +
"report-uri /csp-report-endpoint/");
}
}

32. https://securityheaders.com

33. https://developer.okta.com/blog/2019/04/11/site-security-cloudflare-netlify

34. Brian's Life Hack
Laptop Charger
Snack-Warmer

35. 6. Use OIDC for Auth

36. OIDC Authorization Code Flow

37. Spring Security OIDC Configuration
spring:
security:
oauth2:
client:
registration:
okta:
client-id: {clientId}
client-secret: {clientSecret}
provider:
okta:
issuer-uri: https://{yourOktaDomain}/oauth2/default

38. OIDC Authentication Demo
@Grab('spring-boot-starter-oauth2-client')
@RestController
class Application {
@GetMapping('/')
String home(java.security.Principal user) {
'Hello ' + user.name
}
}

39. Want less code? Use Okta!
okta:
oauth2:
issuer: https://{yourOktaDomain}/oauth2/default
client-id: {yourClientId}
client-secret: {yourClientSecret}
<dependency>
<groupId>com.okta.spring</groupId>
<artifactId>okta-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
<version>1.3.0</version>
</dependency>

40. Works with Spring WebFlux
https://developer.okta.com/blog/2018/11/26/spring-boot-2-dot-1-oidc-oauth2-reactive-apis

41. And JHipster! 🎉
https://developer.okta.com/blog/2019/04/04/java-11-java-12-jhipster-oidc

42. 7. Hash Passwords

43. One-way Function
hash("TSD") =3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
unhash("3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3") = ???

44. Deterministic
hash("TSD") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
hash("TSD") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
hash("TSD") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
hash("TSD") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3

45. It should not be predictable
hash("TSD0") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
hash("TSD1") = 98eadd540e6c0579a1bcbe375c8d1ae2863beacdfb9af803e5f4d6dd1f8926c2
hash("TSD2") = 665ec59d7fb01f6070622780e744040239f0aaa993eae1d088bc4f0137d270ef
hash("TSD3") = 7ae89eb10a765ec2459bee59ed1d3ed97dbb9f31ec5c7bd13d19380bc39f5288

46. One-to-one mapping
hash("TSD") = 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3
hash("123") != 3c9c93e0f8eb2161e5787f7cd3e4b67f8d98fbd80b7d237cc757583b06daa3e3

47. Hashed Passwords in Spring
@Bean
public PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder() {
return new SCryptPasswordEncoder();
}

48. Hashed Passwords in Spring
@Autowired
private PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder;
public String hashPassword(String password) {
return passwordEncoder.encode(password);
}

49. Matt's Life Hack: Clean hard-to-reach places with 🐓

50. 8. Use Secure Secrets

52. https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets

53. Spring Vault
<dependencies>
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.vault</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-vault-core</artifactId>
<version>2.2.0.RELEASE</version>
</dependency>
</dependencies>

54. Spring Vault
@Value("${password}")
char[] password;

55. Why char[] instead of String for password?
Strings are immutable, can't wipe data
String passwords can be accidentally printed
https://www.baeldung.com/java-storing-passwords
Printing String password -> password
Printing char[] password -> [C@6e8cf4c6

56. 9. Test with ZAP

57. OWASP Zed Attack Proxy
Two approaches: Spider and Active Scan
Spider starts with a seed of URLs
Active Scan records a session then plays it back, scanning for known
vulnerabilities

58. Learn More About ZAP
Homepage
https://www.owasp.org/index.php/OWASP_Zed_Attack_Proxy_Project
GitHub https://github.com/zaproxy/zaproxy
Twitter @zaproxy

59. 10. Security Reviews

60. Code Review Topics
1. Identify and validate any third
party input
2. Never store credentials as
code/config
3. Test for new security
vulnerabilities in third-party
open source dependencies.
4. Authenticate inbound requests
5. Enforce the least privilege
principle
6. Prefer whitelist over blacklist
7. Handle sensitive data with care
8. Do not allow back doors in your
code
9. Protect against well-known
attacks
10. Statically test your source code
on every PR, automatically

61. 10 Excellent Ways to Secure Spring Boot
1. Use HTTPS
2. Scan dependencies
3. Dependencies up-to-date
4. Enable CSRF protection
5. Use a Content Security Policy
6. Use OIDC
7. Hash passwords
8. Store secrets securely
9. Test with OWASP's ZAP
10. Code review with experts
��

62. https://snyk.io/blog/spring-boot-security-best-practices

64. Life Hack: Use a toilet seat for a 👌 TV dinner setup

65. Questions?
69
Keep in Touch!
@mraible
@briandemers
Presentation
speakerdeck.com/mraible
Code
github.com/oktadeveloper