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nestjs-security

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Implement JWT authentication, RBAC guards, Helmet hardening, and Argon2 hashing in NestJS. Use when adding auth strategies, role-based access control, CSRF protection, or security headers.

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NestJS Security Standards

Priority: P0 (CRITICAL)

Workflow: Secure NestJS Application

  1. Add Helmet — app.use(helmet()) in main.ts for HSTS, CSP headers.
  2. Configure JWT strategy — Use passport-jwt with RS256; validate iss and aud claims.
  3. Bind global AuthGuard — Register as APP_GUARD; use @Public() for open routes.
  4. Add throttling — Enable @nestjs/throttler with Redis store for rate limiting.
  5. Hash with Argon2id — Replace bcrypt with argon2.hash(password, { type: argon2.argon2id }).
  6. Verify — Run npm audit --prod and test that unauthenticated requests return 401.

Global Auth Guard Example

See implementation examples

Argon2id Hashing Example

See implementation examples

Authentication (JWT)

  • Strategy: Use @nestjs/passport with passport-jwt.
  • Algorithm: Enforce RS256 (preferred) or HS256. Reject none.
  • Claims: Validate iss and aud.
  • Tokens: Short access (15m), Long httponly refresh (7d).
  • MFA: Require 2FA for admin panels.

Authorization (RBAC)

  • Deny by default: Bind AuthGuard globally (APP_GUARD).
  • Bypass: Create @Public() decorator for open routes.
  • Roles: Use Reflector.getAllAndOverride for Method/Class merge.

Cryptography

Hardening

  • Helmet: Mandatory. Enable HSTS, CSP.
  • CORS: Explicit origins only. No *.
  • Throttling: Use Redis-backed @nestjs/throttler in production.
  • CSRF: Required for cookie-based auth. See implementation.

Data Protection

  • Sanitization: Use ClassSerializerInterceptor + @Exclude().
  • Validation: ValidationPipe({ whitelist: true }) to prevent mass assignment.
  • Audit: Log mutations (Who, What, When). See implementation.

Secrets Management

  • CI/CD: Run npm audit --prod in pipelines.
  • Runtime: Inject via vault (AWS Secrets Manager / HashiCorp Vault), not .env.

Anti-Patterns

  • No Shadow APIs: Audit routes regularly; disable /docs in production.
  • No SSRF: Allowlist domains for all outgoing HTTP requests.
  • No SQLi: Use ORM; avoid raw query() with string concatenation.
  • No XSS: Sanitize HTML input with dompurify.

References