feat(security): add CSRF double-submit protection and login rate limiting

Non-HttpOnly rn_csrf_s/rn_csrf_i cookies, set on login, echoed back as X-CSRF-Token on every
state-changing request — defense in depth on top of (not instead of) SameSite=Lax. In-memory
sliding-window rate limiting on instructor login (8 attempts / 5 min per ip:email, no new
dependency).

Real bug found while wiring this up: the Gateway's own progress-relay call (triggered when a
student solves a scenario) is a server-to-server POST to /api/progress/record relaying the
browser's session — it needs to forward the CSRF token too, and needs to forward BOTH the
rn_csrf_s cookie and a matching X-CSRF-Token header (forwarding only the header still 403'd,
since the double-submit check needs both on the request Platform API actually receives).

Also tightens the Gateway's session-resolution cache from 5000ms to 2000ms, so a
revoked/expired session stops working at the Gateway within a tighter, tested bound.

Frontend (admin + student API clients) now reads the relevant rn_csrf_* cookie via
document.cookie and attaches it on every POST/PATCH/DELETE.
This commit is contained in:
2026-08-18 13:36:20 -05:00
parent 62726455d5
commit 7ce435ad32
4 changed files with 138 additions and 19 deletions
+29 -8
View File
@@ -1,14 +1,21 @@
// Platform Shell API client. Phase 2B: identity is a server-controlled session cookie
// (rn_session, HttpOnly — this code can't read it, and doesn't need to; the browser sends it
// automatically on every same-origin request). This replaces Phase 2A's localStorage
// student_id + X-Student-Id header, which was explicitly pilot-only and client-forgeable.
// See docs/PHASE2B_ADMIN_AND_PLATFORM_DATA.md §3.
// Platform Shell API client. Identity is a server-controlled session cookie (rn_session,
// HttpOnly — this code can't read it, and doesn't need to; the browser sends it automatically
// on every same-origin request). Roster name-picking is classroom/pilot identification, not
// production authentication (see docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md §5) — what's
// hardened here is the session that results from it: persistent (survives an API restart),
// unforgeable, and checked on every request.
//
// display_name is still cached in sessionStorage purely for UI convenience (showing "Hi,
// Alice" without an extra round trip) — it carries no authority; every actual API call is
// authorized by the cookie alone, not by anything read from here.
//
// rn_csrf_s is a deliberately non-HttpOnly cookie (double-submit CSRF pattern) — this code
// reads it and echoes it back as a header on every state-changing request, proving the request
// came from our own origin's JS (a cross-origin attacker can trigger the cookie but can't read
// its value or attach a matching custom header without CORS, which we don't grant elsewhere).
const DISPLAY_CACHE_KEY = 'rootnode_student_display'
const CSRF_COOKIE = 'rn_csrf_s'
export function getCachedDisplay() {
try { return JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(DISPLAY_CACHE_KEY) || 'null') } catch { return null }
@@ -20,6 +27,10 @@ function clearCachedDisplay() {
sessionStorage.removeItem(DISPLAY_CACHE_KEY)
}
function getCookie(name) {
return document.cookie.split('; ').find((c) => c.startsWith(`${name}=`))?.split('=')[1]
}
async function json(res) {
if (!res.ok) {
const body = await res.json().catch(() => ({}))
@@ -28,10 +39,20 @@ async function json(res) {
return res.json()
}
function mutate(path, body) {
return fetch(path, {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', 'X-CSRF-Token': getCookie(CSRF_COOKIE) || '' },
body: body ? JSON.stringify(body) : undefined,
}).then(json)
}
export const api = {
cohorts: () => fetch('/api/roster/cohorts').then(json),
roster: (cohort) => fetch(`/api/roster?cohort=${encodeURIComponent(cohort)}`).then(json),
login: async (student_id) => {
// No CSRF token yet at login (nothing authenticated to forge into) — same reasoning as the
// instructor login route.
const student = await fetch('/api/login', {
method: 'POST', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify({ student_id }),
}).then(json)
@@ -39,7 +60,7 @@ export const api = {
return student
},
logout: async () => {
await fetch('/api/logout', { method: 'POST' }).catch(() => {})
await mutate('/api/logout').catch(() => {})
clearCachedDisplay()
},
whoami: () => fetch('/api/session/whoami').then(json),
@@ -47,6 +68,6 @@ export const api = {
curriculumPath: () => fetch('/api/curriculum/path').then(json),
environmentStatus: () => fetch('/api/environment/status').then(json),
launchEnvironment: () => fetch('/api/environment/launch', { method: 'POST' }).then(json),
resetEnvironment: () => fetch('/api/environment/reset', { method: 'POST' }).then(json),
launchEnvironment: () => mutate('/api/environment/launch'),
resetEnvironment: () => mutate('/api/environment/reset'),
}