Security Architecture & Threat Model

Security is a foundational design pillar of CopyPatch. Unlike traditional CMS platforms that store arbitrary HTML and expose wide attack surfaces, CopyPatch enforces strict architectural boundaries to eliminate stored XSS, prevent brute-force attacks, and isolate editing sessions.

1. Strict Plain-Text Invariant (Zero XSS)

CopyPatch accepts, validates, and stores plain-text strings only:

HTML tags (e.g. <script>, <iframe>, <img onerror>) are never parsed or executed as active DOM nodes.
React’s standard text interpolation safely renders all copy as text nodes (0% dangerouslySetInnerHTML).
Server-side validators normalize text. The default maximum value length is 10,000 characters and configuration can raise it to 100,000 characters.

2. Same-Origin Boundary & Origin Validation

CopyPatch v3 runs exclusively inside the host application’s origin:

The embedded API rejects any mutating request whose Origin header does not exactly match the host domain.
CopyPatch does not emit CORS allowlist headers or support insecure cross-origin proxy setups.

3. Argon2id Cryptographic Parameters

The built-in passphrase strategy uses Argon2id (RFC 9106 standard) to resist GPU, ASIC, and side-channel brute-force attacks:

Parameter	Value	Rationale
Algorithm	`Argon2id`	Hybrid defense against both side-channel and GPU-accelerated brute-force attacks.
Memory Cost (m)	`19 MiB (19456 KiB)`	Forces high dedicated RAM allocation per candidate guess on attack hardware.
Time Cost (t)	`2 iterations`	Delivers robust computational workload without introducing perceivable login latency.
Parallelism (p)	`1 lane`	Ensures deterministic, predictable execution across single-core cloud environments.
Salt Length	`32 bytes (256-bit)`	Cryptographically random salt generated via `node:crypto` for every hash.

4. Hardened Session & Token Handling

High-Entropy Tokens: Session tokens are generated with 256-bit cryptographic entropy (crypto.randomBytes(32)).
Token Hashing at Rest: Storage adapters only receive and persist SHA-256 hashes of session and rate-limit identifiers. Even if a raw database file is exposed, session tokens cannot be recovered.
Secure Cookies: Transmitted with HttpOnly, SameSite=Strict, and Secure flags. Over HTTPS, the __Host- prefix is enforced to prevent subdomain injection.

5. Dual-Token CSRF Protection

All state-changing endpoints (POST, PUT, DELETE) require two independent verification factors:

The browser’s automated HttpOnly session cookie.
A unique CSRF token stored in JavaScript memory and passed via the custom x-copypatch-csrf header.

Threat Analysis Matrix

Threat Vector	Severity	CopyPatch Architectural Defense
Stored XSS	Critical	Strict plain-text normalizers; standard React text node interpolation; zero HTML execution.
CSRF Attacks	High	Exact same-origin checking + `SameSite=Strict` cookies + required `x-copypatch-csrf` header.
Brute-Force Login	High	Persistent IP/key rate limiting + 19 MiB Argon2id memory hardness.
SQL Injection	Critical	100% parameterized queries in `better-sqlite3` and `pg`; strict alphanumeric key regex validation.
Session Disclosure	High	SHA-256 token hashing in storage; `HttpOnly` + `Secure` + `__Host-` prefixes.
Revision Overwrites	Medium	Atomic compare-and-swap (CAS) validation on draft and published revision counters.