Performing Security Code Review

Overview

Conducts security-focused code reviews by scanning source files for common vulnerability patterns including SQL injection, XSS, authentication flaws, insecure dependencies, and secret exposure. Produces structured severity-rated reports with specific remediation guidance.

Prerequisites

• Read access to all source files in the target project
• grep available on PATH for pattern matching
• Access to package.json or equivalent dependency manifest for dependency auditing
• Familiarity with OWASP Top 10 vulnerability categories

Instructions

1. Identify the scope of the review: specific files, directories, or the entire codebase. Confirm the primary language(s) and framework(s) in use.
2. Scan for hardcoded secrets and credentials:

• Search for patterns matching API keys, tokens, passwords, AWS access keys (AKIA...), and private key headers (BEGIN PRIVATE KEY).
• Flag any .env files or configuration files containing plaintext secrets.

1. Analyze code for injection vulnerabilities:

• Identify raw SQL string concatenation (SQL injection risk).
• Locate unsanitized user input rendered in HTML (XSS risk).
• Check for eval(), exec(), or Function() calls with dynamic input (code injection risk).

1. Review authentication and authorization logic:

• Verify password hashing uses strong algorithms (bcrypt, argon2) rather than MD5/SHA1.
• Check for missing authentication on sensitive endpoints.
• Identify overly permissive CORS configurations.

1. Audit dependencies for known vulnerabilities:

• Run npm audit or equivalent package manager audit command.
• Cross-reference dependency versions against known CVE databases.

1. Check for insecure communication patterns:

• Flag HTTP URLs where HTTPS is expected.
• Identify disabled TLS certificate verification.

1. Compile findings into a structured report sorted by severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low), including the vulnerable code location, explanation, and remediation steps.

Output

A structured security review report containing:

• Summary with total findings count by severity level
• Per-finding entries with: file path, line number, vulnerability type, severity, code snippet, explanation, and recommended fix
• Dependency audit results with CVE identifiers where applicable
• Overall risk assessment (Critical / High / Medium / Low / Clean)

Error Handling