docs: rewrite security/operator docs for the multi-user panel (P2)
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test / test (push) Has been cancelled
The CSRF ADR, guide.md, architecture.md route table, the internal/backup package comment, roadmap/dmarc-reports admin.dmarc_report_email references, the e2e coverage summary, and the setupManager/store package comments still described the pre-1.2.0 single-administrator panel or stale implementation details. Closes P2 of docs/plans/code-review.md; no behaviour change. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
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@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ The panel is exposed to the internet — the items below are **not optional**.
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- Failed attempts do **not** invalidate the token early (protects setup from
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being DoS-ed).
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- Once the administrator exists the token is void forever, `/setup/*` → 404.
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- The administrator password is bcrypt (or argon2) in SQLite only; no plaintext
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and no MD5.
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- The administrator password is bcrypt in SQLite only; no plaintext and no
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MD5.
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- `PANEL_USERNAME` / `PANEL_PASSWORD_HASH` in env are **not used**.
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### Application SASL passwords
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@@ -112,19 +112,21 @@ deferred item from the roadmap.
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- **A `POST` with neither `Sec-Fetch-Site` nor `Origin` is allowed through.**
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A client that sends neither — a genuinely old browser, or a webview with a
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frozen engine — stays vulnerable to CSRF from any site. Accepted
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deliberately: the panel is single-user, the administrator picks the browser,
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and a strict mode would not "protect" such a client, it would simply break the
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panel in it. Tightening is one line in `originAllowed`
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deliberately: every panel user (global or domain-admin) is an operator who
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picks their own browser, not an untrusted party the panel needs to defend
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against, and a strict mode would not "protect" such a client, it would
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simply break the panel in it. Tightening is one line in `originAllowed`
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([internal/web/security.go](../internal/web/security.go)): return `false`
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instead of `true` in the "neither header present" branch.
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- **Session-bound CSRF tokens are not implemented.** The origin check closes the
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neighbouring-subdomain case but depends on browser behaviour; a token does
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not. The price is a hidden field in roughly two dozen forms. The trigger to
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revisit is a requirement for protection that holds regardless of the browser.
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A token would not save the panel from XSS inside it either: code executing in
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the panel's origin sends the request itself — against that, `html/template`
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auto-escaping and CSP do the work, which is why templates must contain no
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inline scripts and no inline styles.
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revisit is a requirement for protection that holds regardless of the browser,
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or a domain-admin population the global administrator does not fully trust
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(see the ADR below). A token would not save the panel from XSS inside it
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either: code executing in the panel's origin sends the request itself —
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against that, `html/template` auto-escaping and CSP do the work, which is why
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templates must contain no inline scripts and no inline styles.
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- **Encrypting backups and exports is an option, not the default.** With the
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checkbox cleared the file downloads in the clear, as in 1.0. Otherwise an
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operator with nowhere to keep a password would lose the ability to take a
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@@ -158,24 +160,35 @@ deferred item from the roadmap.
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**Context.** The panel is forms (`POST`) with a cookie session — the classic
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CSRF surface. What is needed is a way to tell a request from the panel's own
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page apart from one initiated by a third-party site in the logged-in
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administrator's browser.
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page apart from one initiated by a third-party site in a logged-in user's
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browser. The panel is multi-user since 1.2.0 (a global administrator plus
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zero or more domain-admin users, each scoped to their assigned domains), but
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that is an authorization boundary (who can see or change what), not a change
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to the CSRF threat: the attacker in scope here is still an external site
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riding a legitimate user's cookie, not one panel user attacking another
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through the browser.
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**Decision.** `originAllowed` in
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[internal/web/security.go](../internal/web/security.go) checks `Sec-Fetch-Site`
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(when the browser sends it) or `Origin` (fallback) against the panel's host; a
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request carrying neither header is **allowed through** rather than rejected.
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There are no session-bound tokens embedded in forms.
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There are no session-bound tokens embedded in forms. The check applies the same
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way regardless of the requesting user's role.
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**Why not tokens.** The panel is single-user (one administrator per instance) —
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the threat model does not include cross-user CSRF inside the panel itself, only
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an external site making the administrator's browser send a request. The origin
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check covers that without touching a single template: a token would need a
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hidden field in roughly two dozen forms and synchronisation with every new form,
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and it would still not protect against XSS inside the panel — code executing in
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the panel's origin reads the token and sends the request itself. XSS is handled
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by `html/template` auto-escaping and CSP, so that is a separate line of defence,
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not a CSRF token.
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**Why not tokens.** Cross-user CSRF is not the threat model here: a
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domain-admin's browser sending a request still needs that domain-admin's own
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cookie, so a token would not add a boundary between roles that the
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authorization checks (`Principal.CanAccessDomain`,
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[internal/web/auth/principal.go](../internal/web/auth/principal.go); route
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gating in [internal/web/auth/middleware.go](../internal/web/auth/middleware.go))
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don't already enforce. The remaining case is an external site making a
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logged-in user's browser send a request, which the origin check covers without
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touching a single template.
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A token would need a hidden field in roughly two dozen forms and
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synchronisation with every new form, and it would still not protect against
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XSS inside the panel — code executing in the panel's origin reads the token
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and sends the request itself. XSS is handled by `html/template` auto-escaping
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and CSP, so that is a separate line of defence, not a CSRF token.
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**Trade-off.** A client that sends neither `Sec-Fetch-Site` nor `Origin` (a
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genuinely old browser, or a webview with a frozen engine) stays vulnerable — see
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@@ -183,7 +196,11 @@ genuinely old browser, or a webview with a frozen engine) stays vulnerable — s
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such a client, at the price of a narrow residual surface.
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**Revisit if:** a requirement appears for protection that does not depend on
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browser behaviour, or the panel becomes multi-user.
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browser behaviour, or domain-admin accounts stop being trusted operators (for
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example, if a future release lets a global administrator invite domain-admins
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whose browsers/devices are not vetted) — at that point cross-role request
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forgery inside the panel would need its own analysis, separate from the
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external-site case this ADR covers.
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## How this list grows
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