Best Practices for Vue Application Security

With every part of our daily lives now a part of the evolving digital landscape, the security of a web application is one of the critical aspects a developer ought to consider. 

While performance, SEO, API calls, and the UI/UX take precedence when creating an application using Vue.js, the security of the application should not be overlooked. There are countless ways that assaults may occur on the front end, namely-

• Unrestricted File Upload
• Clickjacking
• XSS Attack
• SQL injection
• A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack)
• Session hijacking

Here are some of the best practices for developers to bear in mind when creating a web application with Vue.js to ensure premium security and constant vigilance.

Enable XSS Protection Mode to prevent Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) assaults are among the most common attacks on web applications. Hackers inject code into the DOM elements of the website, in what is known as a code injection, making the website user’s information vulnerable and available to the hacker. 

Developers should sanitize some of the untrusted inputs listed below to ensure the prevention of such attacks.

• HTML (Binding inner HTML)
• Style (CSS)
• Attributes (Binding values)
• Resources (Referring files)

It is good practice to sanitize data before displaying it to the user. Your application can be effectively protected from security holes by the simple precaution of cleaning up the original data.

In the event that an attacker hacks and inserts malicious code in the user input, one can enable the “X-XSS-Protection”: “1; mode=block” header by blocking the response. Most modern browsers have an XSS protection mode, and adding an X-XSS-Protection header is highly recommended. This guarantees a higher level of security for older browsers that do not implement CSP headers.

XXS mistake to avoid

XSS attacks are typically discovered in the DOM API's inner HTML section. For example- 

document.querySelector('.application').innerHTML = value;

The attacker might unintentionally use the aforementioned line to inject malware. Developers are strongly advised against defining the inner HTML value based on user input. 

Refrain from modifying Vue libraries

You are prone to depend on the most recent version of Vue if you modify the libraries in Vue to suit your needs. Making it difficult to upgrade to a newer version of Vue, and risk missing out on important security upgrades.

To allow other developers to assess and perhaps include new changes and fixes in the forthcoming version, it is advisable to share pull requests for Vue libraries when making new changes and fixes.

Keep all NPM packages up to date at all times because they frequently provide new functionality or fix security flaws, allowing your application to take advantage of these updates automatically.

Using Packages from Third Parties

The more third-party packages you use, the more likely it is that an open-source library may have security flaws, making it vulnerable to hackers. When choosing Vue.js components from a third-party to integrate within an application, an informed Vue.js developer must determine whether the library is open source or not because a lack of transparency could pose a security risk.

Ensure that the third-party library is well-documented, advised, meets particular requirements, and is actively supported by the author.

Use a Captcha

For large-scale projects, you should always advocate employing captcha where there is a wider audience to reach. These include contact information, login, and registration. Denial of service (DoS) attacks are also avoided by it. 

A captcha is a computerized programme or system created to distinguish between humans and machines.

Regularly audit dependencies

Auditing dependency packages entails determining whether or not the installed NPM packages have been updated to the most recent version.

To audit packages, frequently use the NPM audit commands. The command prompts an update for packages to their most recent version and displays any vulnerable and out-of-date package versions.

Generic Error Message for Authentication

When a user enters the incorrect password into your authentication form, if a notification stating "Your Password is incorrect" is displayed, it makes it easier for an attacker to determine that though the password is incorrect, the email address or user ID is correct. All a hacker needs to do is launch a dictionary or brute-force assault to discover the user's password. A generic error message like "Incorrect login detail entered" informs your user of incorrect input but keeps the malicious attackers still guessing.

The simple and fundamental practice of writing secure code can prevent the exploitation of bugs and errors. While there's no such thing as a "perfect line of code", and while there will always be fixes to make, patches to release, and urgent issues to respond to, adopting a diligent mindset when developing secure code can help one avoid unnecessary risks.