springboot-security

name	springboot-security
description	Spring Security best practices for authn/authz, validation, CSRF, secrets, headers, rate limiting, and dependency security in Java Spring Boot services.
origin	ECC

Spring Boot Security Review

Use when adding auth, handling input, creating endpoints, or dealing with secrets.

When to Activate

• Adding authentication (JWT, OAuth2, session-based)
• Implementing authorization (@PreAuthorize, role-based access)
• Validating user input (Bean Validation, custom validators)
• Configuring CORS, CSRF, or security headers
• Managing secrets (Vault, environment variables)
• Adding rate limiting or brute-force protection
• Scanning dependencies for CVEs

Authentication

• Prefer stateless JWT or opaque tokens with revocation list
• Use httpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Strict cookies for sessions
• Validate tokens with OncePerRequestFilter or resource server

@Component
public class JwtAuthFilter extends OncePerRequestFilter {
  private final JwtService jwtService;

  public JwtAuthFilter(JwtService jwtService) {
    this.jwtService = jwtService;
  }

  @Override
  protected void doFilterInternal(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
      FilterChain chain) throws ServletException, IOException {
    String header = request.getHeader(HttpHeaders.AUTHORIZATION);
    if (header != null && header.startsWith("Bearer ")) {
      String token = header.substring(7);
      Authentication auth = jwtService.authenticate(token);
      SecurityContextHolder.getContext().setAuthentication(auth);
    }
    chain.doFilter(request, response);
  }
}

Authorization

• Enable method security: @EnableMethodSecurity
• Use @PreAuthorize("hasRole('ADMIN')") or @PreAuthorize("@authz.canEdit(#id)")
• Deny by default; expose only required scopes

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api/admin")
public class AdminController {

  @PreAuthorize("hasRole('ADMIN')")
  @GetMapping("/users")
  public List<UserDto> listUsers() {
    return userService.findAll();
  }

  @PreAuthorize("@authz.isOwner(#id, authentication)")
  @DeleteMapping("/users/{id}")
  public ResponseEntity<Void> deleteUser(@PathVariable Long id) {
    userService.delete(id);
    return ResponseEntity.noContent().build();
  }
}

Input Validation

// BAD: No validation
@PostMapping("/users")
public User createUser(@RequestBody UserDto dto) {
  return userService.create(dto);
}

// GOOD: Validated DTO
public record CreateUserDto(
    @NotBlank @Size(max = 100) String name,
    @NotBlank @Email String email,
    @NotNull @Min(0) @Max(150) Integer age
) {}

@PostMapping("/users")
public ResponseEntity<UserDto> createUser(@Valid @RequestBody CreateUserDto dto) {
  return ResponseEntity.status(HttpStatus.CREATED)
      .body(userService.create(dto));
}

SQL Injection Prevention

// BAD: String concatenation in native query
@Query(value = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = '" + name + "'", nativeQuery = true)

// GOOD: Parameterized native query
@Query(value = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE name = :name", nativeQuery = true)
List<User> findByName(@Param("name") String name);

// GOOD: Spring Data derived query (auto-parameterized)
List<User> findByEmailAndActiveTrue(String email);

Password Encoding

@Bean
public PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder() {
  return new BCryptPasswordEncoder(12); // cost factor 12
}

// In service
public User register(CreateUserDto dto) {
  String hashedPassword = passwordEncoder.encode(dto.password());
  return userRepository.save(new User(dto.email(), hashedPassword));
}

CSRF Protection

• For browser session apps, keep CSRF enabled; include token in forms/headers
• For pure APIs with Bearer tokens, disable CSRF and rely on stateless auth

http
  .csrf(csrf -> csrf.disable())
  .sessionManagement(sm -> sm.sessionCreationPolicy(SessionCreationPolicy.STATELESS));

Secrets Management

# BAD: Hardcoded in application.yml
spring:
  datasource:
    password: mySecretPassword123

# GOOD: Environment variable placeholder
spring:
  datasource:
    password: ${DB_PASSWORD}

# GOOD: Spring Cloud Vault integration
spring:
  cloud:
    vault:
      uri: https://vault.example.com
      token: ${VAULT_TOKEN}

Security Headers

http
  .headers(headers -> headers
    .contentSecurityPolicy(csp -> csp
      .policyDirectives("default-src 'self'"))
    .frameOptions(HeadersConfigurer.FrameOptionsConfig::sameOrigin)
    .xssProtection(Customizer.withDefaults())
    .referrerPolicy(rp -> rp.policy(ReferrerPolicyHeaderWriter.ReferrerPolicy.NO_REFERRER)));

CORS Configuration

@Bean
public CorsConfigurationSource corsConfigurationSource() {
  CorsConfiguration config = new CorsConfiguration();
  config.setAllowedOrigins(List.of("https://app.example.com"));
  config.setAllowedMethods(List.of("GET", "POST", "PUT", "DELETE"));
  config.setAllowedHeaders(List.of("Authorization", "Content-Type"));
  config.setAllowCredentials(true);
  config.setMaxAge(3600L);

  UrlBasedCorsConfigurationSource source = new UrlBasedCorsConfigurationSource();
  source.registerCorsConfiguration("/api/**", config);
  return source;
}

http.cors(cors -> cors.configurationSource(corsConfigurationSource()));

Rate Limiting

@Component
public class RateLimitFilter extends OncePerRequestFilter {
  private final Map<String, Bucket> buckets = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();

  private Bucket createBucket() {
    return Bucket.builder()
        .addLimit(Bandwidth.classic(100, Refill.intervally(100, Duration.ofMinutes(1))))
        .build();
  }

  @Override
  protected void doFilterInternal(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response,
      FilterChain chain) throws ServletException, IOException {
    String clientIp = request.getRemoteAddr();
    Bucket bucket = buckets.computeIfAbsent(clientIp, k -> createBucket());

    if (bucket.tryConsume(1)) {
      chain.doFilter(request, response);
    } else {
      response.setStatus(HttpStatus.TOO_MANY_REQUESTS.value());
      response.getWriter().write("{\"error\": \"Rate limit exceeded\"}");
    }
  }
}

Checklist Before Release

• Auth tokens validated and expired correctly
• Authorization guards on every sensitive path
• All inputs validated and sanitized
• No string-concatenated SQL
• CSRF posture correct for app type
• Secrets externalized; none committed
• Security headers configured
• Rate limiting on APIs
• Dependencies scanned and up to date
• Logs free of sensitive data

Remember: Deny by default, validate inputs, least privilege, and secure-by-configuration first.