NodeGoat

Being lightweight, fast, and scalable, Node.js is becoming a widely adopted platform for developing web applications. This project provides an environment to learn how OWASP Top 10 security risks apply to web applications developed using Node.js and how to effectively address them.

Getting Started

OWASP Top 10 for Node.js web applications:

Know it!

Tutorial Guide explaining how each of the OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities can manifest in Node.js web apps and how to prevent it.

Do it!

A Vulnerable Node.js App for Ninjas to exploit, toast, and fix. You may like to set up your own copy of the app to fix and test vulnerabilities. Hint: Look for comments in the source code.

Default user accounts

The database comes pre-populated with these user accounts created as part of the seed data -

• Admin Account - u:admin p:Admin_123
• User Accounts (u:user1 p:User1_123), (u:user2 p:User2_123)
• New users can also be added using the sign-up page.

How to Set Up Your Copy of NodeGoat

OPTION 1 - Run NodeGoat on your machine

1. Install Node.js - NodeGoat requires Node v8 or above

2. Clone the github repository:

   git clone https://github.com/OWASP/NodeGoat.git
   

3. Go to the directory:

   cd NodeGoat
   

4. Install node packages:

   npm install
   

5. Set up MongoDB. You can either install MongoDB locally or create a remote instance:

   • Using local MongoDB:

     1. Install MongoDB Community Server
     2. Start mongod

   • Using remote MongoDB instance:

     1. Deploy a MongoDB Atlas free tier cluster (M0 Sandbox)
     2. Enable network access to the cluster from your current IP address
     3. Add a database user to the cluster
     4. Set the MONGODB_URI environment variable to the connection string of your cluster, which can be viewed in the cluster's connect dialog. Select "Connect your application", set the driver to "Node.js" and the version to "2.2.12 or later". This will give a connection string in the form:

        mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster>/<dbname>?ssl=true&replicaSet=<rsname>&authSource=admin&retryWrites=true&w=majority
        

        The <username> and <password> fields need filling in with the details of the database user added earlier. The <dbname> field sets the name of the database nodegoat will use in the cluster (eg "nodegoat"). The other fields will already be filled in with the correct details for your cluster.

6. Populate MongoDB with the seed data required for the app:

   npm run db:seed
   

   By default this will use the "development" configuration, but the desired config can be passed as an argument if required.

7. Start the server. You can run the server using node or nodemon:

   • Start the server with node. This starts the NodeGoat application at http://localhost:4000/:

     npm start
     

   • Start the server with nodemon, which will automatically restart the application when you make any changes. This starts the NodeGoat application at http://localhost:5000/:

     npm run dev
     

Customizing the Default Application Configuration

By default the application will be hosted on port 4000 and will connect to a MongoDB instance at localhost:27017. To change this set the environment variables PORT and MONGODB_URI.

Other settings can be changed by updating the config file.

OPTION 2 - Run NodeGoat on Docker

The repo includes the Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml necessary to set up the app and db instance, then connect them together.

1. Install docker and docker compose

2. Clone the github repository:

   git clone https://github.com/OWASP/NodeGoat.git
   

3. Go to the directory:

   cd NodeGoat
   

4. Build the images:

   docker-compose build
   

5. Run the app, this starts the NodeGoat application at http://localhost:4000/:

   docker-compose up
   

OPTION 3 - Deploy to Heroku

This option uses a free ($0/month) Heroku node server.

Though not essential, it is recommended that you fork this repository and deploy the forked repo. This will allow you to fix vulnerabilities in your own forked version, then deploy and test it on Heroku.

1. Set up a publicly accessible MongoDB instance:

   1. Deploy a MongoDB Atlas free tier cluster (M0 Sandbox)
   2. Enable network access to the cluster from anywhere (CIDR range 0.0.0.0/0)
   3. Add a database user to the cluster

2. Deploy NodeGoat to Heroku by clicking the button below:

   

   In the Create New App dialog, set the MONGODB_URI config var to the connection string of your MongoDB Atlas cluster. This can be viewed in the cluster's connect dialog. Select "Connect your application", set the driver to "Node.js" and the version to "2.2.12 or later". This will give a connection string in the form:

   mongodb://<username>:<password>@<cluster>/<dbname>?ssl=true&replicaSet=<rsname>&authSource=admin&retryWrites=true&w=majority
   

   The <username> and <password> fields need filling in with the details of the database user added earlier. The <dbname> field sets the name of the database nodegoat will use in the cluster (eg "nodegoat"). The other fields will already be filled in with the correct details for your cluster.

Report bugs, Feedback, Comments

• Open a new issue or contact team by joining chat at Slack or

Contributing

Please Follow the contributing guide

Code Of Conduct (CoC)

This project is bound by a Code of Conduct.

Contributors

Here are the amazing contributors to the NodeGoat project.

Supports

• Thanks to JetBrains for providing licenses to fantastic WebStorm IDE to build this project.

License

Code licensed under the Apache License v2.0.