We release patches for security vulnerabilities for the following versions:

We take security seriously. If you discover a security vulnerability, please follow these steps:

Please do not create a public GitHub issue for security vulnerabilities. This helps prevent exploitation before a fix is available.

Send a detailed report to the UNC-GDSC team via:

• Email: [Your contact email - to be configured]
• GitHub Security Advisory: Use the "Security" tab in this repository

• Description of the vulnerability
• Steps to reproduce the issue
• Potential impact
• Suggested fix (if any)
• Your contact information

• Acknowledgment: We will acknowledge receipt within 48 hours
• Communication: We will keep you informed of our progress
• Timeline: We aim to release a fix within 14 days for critical vulnerabilities
• Credit: We will credit you in the security advisory (unless you prefer to remain anonymous)

When deploying this URL shortener in production:

• Never commit .env files
• Use strong, unique values for sensitive configuration
• Rotate credentials regularly

• Use strong database passwords
• Enable SSL/TLS for database connections in production
• Regularly backup your database
• Keep database software up to date

• Always use HTTPS in production
• Implement rate limiting to prevent abuse
• Use a reverse proxy (Nginx, Caddy) with proper security headers
• Configure CORS appropriately

• Validate all user input
• Sanitize URLs to prevent XSS attacks
• Implement URL blacklisting for malicious domains
• Set maximum URL length limits

Consider implementing:

• API key authentication
• JWT tokens
• Rate limiting per user/IP
• Access control lists

• Enable comprehensive logging
• Monitor for suspicious activity
• Set up alerts for unusual patterns
• Regularly review logs

• Regularly update dependencies
• Use cargo audit to check for known vulnerabilities
• Enable Dependabot alerts

• Use official Rust base images
• Run containers as non-root user (already implemented)
• Scan images for vulnerabilities
• Keep base images updated

This is a basic URL shortener implementation. Before deploying to production, consider:

1. Rate Limiting: Not implemented by default - add middleware
2. Authentication: No authentication - implement as needed
3. URL Validation: Basic validation - enhance for production
4. Malicious URL Detection: Not implemented - integrate with URL scanning services
5. DoS Protection: Limited - implement additional protections

We will publish security updates in:

• GitHub Security Advisories
• CHANGELOG.md
• Release notes

We kindly ask security researchers to:

• Give us reasonable time to address the issue before public disclosure
• Make a good faith effort to avoid privacy violations and data destruction
• Not exploit the vulnerability beyond what is necessary to demonstrate it

This project follows security best practices for:

• OWASP Top 10
• Rust security guidelines
• Container security standards

If you have questions about security but don't have a vulnerability to report, please:

• Open a discussion in the GitHub Discussions tab
• Tag it with the security label

Thank you for helping keep this project and its users safe!