feat(web): AES-GCM cookies + per-username/global rate limit + origin check

Three layers of login hardening pulled together — addresses the
"don't let middleman / robot easily log in by mimicking headers"
follow-up.

1. AES-256-GCM session cookie (apps/web/src/lib/auth-cookie.ts)

   The old format was base64-encoded JSON + HMAC-SHA256 signature, so
   anyone with the cookie could read userId/role straight off the
   bytes. Switched to AES-GCM authenticated encryption: the payload
   is encrypted with a 256-bit key derived from AUTH_SECRET via
   SHA-256, a fresh 12-byte nonce is drawn per encryption (never
   reused — locked in by test), and tampering with either the IV or
   ciphertext fails the GCM auth tag → decrypt throws → null.

   Cookie format: <base64url(iv)>.<base64url(ciphertext+tag)>

   Existing cookies become invalid on deploy because the IV portion
   doesn't decode to 12 bytes — middleware bounces them to /login.
   No env bump needed; users just sign in once with the new secret.

2. Three-layer rate limit on loginAction

   Old: per-IP only. An attacker with a residential-proxy pool or
   spoofed X-Forwarded-For could hop IPs and brute one account.
   New: Promise.all of three checkRateLimit calls
     - per-IP        login:<ip>          10 / 5 min
     - per-username  login-user:<lower>  5 / 15 min
     - global        login-global        100 / min (backstop)
   First-hit wins; logger captures which limit tripped (ip / username
   / global) without telling the attacker which one.

3. Action-level Origin/Host check

   serverActions.allowedOrigins already does this at the framework
   layer; running it inside loginAction lets us log the mismatch and
   reject before bcrypt + DB. Missing Origin treated as same-origin
   (RFC: same-origin POSTs may omit it). Malformed Origin → reject.

Tests:
  - auth-cookie.test.ts updated to AES-GCM (15 tests, +4 vs HMAC):
    fresh IV per encryption, ciphertext doesn't leak userId/role,
    IV-swap rejected, ciphertext-tamper rejected, wrong-length IV
    rejected, malformed b64 doesn't throw.
  - auth.test.ts adds 7 new cases: three-layer key shape, per-username
    limit alone trips, global limit alone trips, cross-origin rejected,
    same-origin accepted, missing-Origin treated as same-origin,
    malformed-Origin rejected.

Web suite 453 → 463 tests, all green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

apps/web/src/actions/auth.test.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const {
   cookiesDeleteMock,
   findUserMock,
   headersGetMock,
+  headerStore,
   checkRateLimitMock,
   redirectMock,
   loggerMock,
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@ const {
   cookiesDeleteMock: vi.fn(),
   findUserMock: vi.fn(),
   headersGetMock: vi.fn(() => "127.0.0.1"),
+  headerStore: new Map<string, string>(),
   checkRateLimitMock: vi.fn(),
   redirectMock: vi.fn((_path: string) => {
     throw new Error("redirect");
@@ -24,7 +26,14 @@ const {
 vi.mock("next/headers", () => ({
   cookies: async () => ({ set: cookiesSetMock, delete: cookiesDeleteMock }),
   headers: async () => ({
-    get: (k: string) => (k.toLowerCase() === "x-forwarded-for" ? headersGetMock() : null),
+    get: (k: string) => {
+      const key = k.toLowerCase();
+      if (key === "x-forwarded-for") return headersGetMock();
+      // Tests opt-in to setting origin/host/etc. via headerStore;
+      // unset = null which lets hasSameOriginRequest treat the
+      // request as same-origin (Origin omitted = same-origin per RFC).
+      return headerStore.get(key) ?? null;
+    },
   }),
 }));
 vi.mock("next/navigation", () => ({
@@ -56,6 +65,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
     throw new Error("redirect");
   });
   loggerMock.warn.mockReset();
+  headerStore.clear();
 });
 
 import { loginAction, logoutAction } from "./auth";
@@ -221,22 +231,21 @@ describe("logoutAction", () => {
 });
 
 describe("loginAction — additional cases", () => {
-  it("issues a cookie with role='user' encoded in the payload for a non-admin user", async () => {
+  it("issues a cookie that decrypts to role='user' for a non-admin user", async () => {
     findUserMock.mockResolvedValue({ ...ADMIN_ROW, role: "user" });
     await loginAction(fd({ username: "alice", password: "correct-horse" })).catch(() => {});
     expect(cookiesSetMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
     const [, cookieValue] = cookiesSetMock.mock.calls[0]!;
-    // Cookie shape: <base64url(json)>.<base64url(sig)>. Decode payload and
+    // The cookie is now AES-GCM encrypted, so we can't peel the payload
-    // assert the role round-trips, so the middleware/AppShell role gate gets
+    // off raw — decrypt with the same secret loginAction used. This
-    // accurate data without us having to import auth-cookie.
+    // also doubles as a confidentiality smoke test: 'user'/'alice'
-    const [payloadEnc] = (cookieValue as string).split(".");
+    // must NOT appear verbatim in the cookie bytes.
-    const json = Buffer.from(
+    expect(cookieValue as string).not.toContain("alice");
-      payloadEnc!.replace(/-/g, "+").replace(/_/g, "/") +
+    expect(cookieValue as string).not.toContain("user");
-        "=".repeat((4 - (payloadEnc!.length % 4)) % 4),
+    const { verifySession } = await import("@/lib/auth-cookie");
-      "base64",
+    const decoded = await verifySession(cookieValue as string, SECRET);
-    ).toString("utf8");
+    expect(decoded?.role).toBe("user");
-    const decoded = JSON.parse(json);
+    expect(decoded?.userId).toBe(ADMIN_ROW.id);
-    expect(decoded.role).toBe("user");
   });
 
   it("rejects when the user row has an unrecognised role string", async () => {
@@ -265,12 +274,85 @@ describe("loginAction — additional cases", () => {
     expect(findUserMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
-  it("rate limit key includes the client IP so a hostile IP can't lock everyone out", async () => {
+  it("uses three rate-limit layers: per-IP, per-username, global", async () => {
     findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
     headersGetMock.mockReturnValue("198.51.100.42");
+    await loginAction(fd({ username: "Admin", password: "correct-horse" })).catch(() => {});
+    // Three checkRateLimit calls fired in parallel via Promise.all,
+    // in this order: ip / user / global.
+    expect(checkRateLimitMock).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3);
+    const keys = checkRateLimitMock.mock.calls.map((c) => c[0] as string);
+    expect(keys[0]).toBe("login:198.51.100.42");
+    // Username key is normalised to lowercase so "Admin" and "admin"
+    // share the same bucket — otherwise an attacker rotating case
+    // would dodge per-username throttling.
+    expect(keys[1]).toBe("login-user:admin");
+    expect(keys[2]).toBe("login-global");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects login when the per-username limit alone is hit (rotating-IPs attacker)", async () => {
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    // First call (ip) passes, second (user) is over, third (global) passes.
+    checkRateLimitMock
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: false, count: 1 })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: true, count: 6 })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: false, count: 5 });
+    const r = await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({ ok: false, error: "Too many attempts. Try again later." });
+    expect(findUserMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    // Logger captures which limit tripped so we can tune thresholds
+    // without leaking the answer to the attacker.
+    const meta = loggerMock.warn.mock.calls.find((c) => c[1] === "login rate-limited")?.[0];
+    expect(meta).toMatchObject({ limit: "username" });
+  });
+
+  it("rejects login when the global limit alone is hit (everyone-pile-on backstop)", async () => {
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    checkRateLimitMock
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: false, count: 1 })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: false, count: 1 })
+      .mockResolvedValueOnce({ limited: true, count: 101 });
+    const r = await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({ ok: false, error: "Too many attempts. Try again later." });
+    const meta = loggerMock.warn.mock.calls.find((c) => c[1] === "login rate-limited")?.[0];
+    expect(meta).toMatchObject({ limit: "global" });
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a cross-origin POST before checking credentials", async () => {
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    headerStore.set("origin", "https://attacker.example");
+    headerStore.set("host", "wabot.04080616.xyz");
+    const r = await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({ ok: false, error: "Cross-origin request blocked." });
+    expect(checkRateLimitMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(findUserMock).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("accepts a same-origin POST (Origin host matches Host header)", async () => {
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    headerStore.set("origin", "https://wabot.04080616.xyz");
+    headerStore.set("host", "wabot.04080616.xyz");
     await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" })).catch(() => {});
-    const [key] = checkRateLimitMock.mock.calls[0]!;
+    // Got past the origin check → DB lookup ran.
-    expect(key).toContain("198.51.100.42");
+    expect(findUserMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("treats a missing Origin header as same-origin (legitimate native form POST)", async () => {
+    // Browsers don't always send Origin (e.g. plain top-level form
+    // submissions). Refusing those would brick login on some clients.
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    headerStore.delete("origin");
+    headerStore.set("host", "wabot.04080616.xyz");
+    await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" })).catch(() => {});
+    expect(findUserMock).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects when Origin is malformed (non-URL string)", async () => {
+    findUserMock.mockResolvedValue(ADMIN_ROW);
+    headerStore.set("origin", "not a url");
+    headerStore.set("host", "wabot.04080616.xyz");
+    const r = await loginAction(fd({ username: "admin", password: "correct-horse" }));
+    expect(r).toEqual({ ok: false, error: "Cross-origin request blocked." });
   });
 
   it("still hits the DB and bcrypt on the unknown-user path so timing equivalence holds", async () => {

apps/web/src/actions/auth.ts

@@ -32,6 +32,31 @@ async function clientIp(): Promise<string> {
   return h.get("x-real-ip") ?? "unknown";
 }
 
+/**
+ * Compare the inbound Origin to the request's Host. Server Actions
+ * already get an Origin check via Next 16's
+ * `serverActions.allowedOrigins`, but that's a global config — running
+ * the same comparison here is cheap belt-and-braces and lets us log
+ * mismatches with action-level context. Returns true when:
+ *   - no Origin header is present (same-origin POSTs from the same
+ *     server), OR
+ *   - Origin's host matches the Host header (same-origin)
+ * Anything else (cross-origin POST, malformed Origin, etc.) → false.
+ */
+async function hasSameOriginRequest(): Promise<boolean> {
+  const h = await headers();
+  const origin = h.get("origin");
+  if (!origin) return true; // RFC: same-origin requests may omit Origin
+  const host = h.get("host");
+  if (!host) return false;
+  try {
+    const u = new URL(origin);
+    return u.host === host;
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 export async function loginAction(formData: FormData): Promise<LoginResult> {
   const username = (formData.get("username") ?? "").toString();
   const password = (formData.get("password") ?? "").toString();
@@ -44,9 +69,41 @@ export async function loginAction(formData: FormData): Promise<LoginResult> {
     return { ok: false, error: "Input too long." };
   }
 
+  // Action-level Origin check. Next 16's serverActions.allowedOrigins
+  // already gates this at the framework boundary, but doing it here
+  // with action context lets us log the mismatch and surface a clean
+  // error instead of relying on the global config alone.
+  if (!(await hasSameOriginRequest())) {
+    logger.warn({}, "login rejected: cross-origin request");
+    return { ok: false, error: "Cross-origin request blocked." };
+  }
+
   const ip = await clientIp();
-  const rl = await checkRateLimit(`login:${ip}`, { max: 10, windowSec: 300 });
+  // Three-layer rate limit:
-  if (rl.limited) {
+  //   per-IP        — typical brute-forcer
+  //   per-username  — attacker who rotates IPs (X-Forwarded-For
+  //                   spoofing, residential proxy pool) but pounds
+  //                   a single account
+  //   global        — backstop. If the attacker controls enough
+  //                   IP+username combos to slip past the first two,
+  //                   this caps the total login attempts per minute
+  //                   across the install. Lock occurs at the FIRST
+  //                   limit hit; we don't reveal which one.
+  const usernameKey = username.trim().toLowerCase();
+  const [rlIp, rlUser, rlGlobal] = await Promise.all([
+    checkRateLimit(`login:${ip}`, { max: 10, windowSec: 300 }),
+    checkRateLimit(`login-user:${usernameKey}`, { max: 5, windowSec: 900 }),
+    checkRateLimit(`login-global`, { max: 100, windowSec: 60 }),
+  ]);
+  if (rlIp.limited || rlUser.limited || rlGlobal.limited) {
+    logger.warn(
+      {
+        ip,
+        username: usernameKey,
+        limit: rlIp.limited ? "ip" : rlUser.limited ? "username" : "global",
+      },
+      "login rate-limited",
+    );
     return { ok: false, error: "Too many attempts. Try again later." };
   }
 

apps/web/src/lib/auth-cookie.test.ts

@@ -23,28 +23,51 @@ const validPayload = (): SessionPayload => ({
   v: 1,
 });
 
-describe("auth-cookie", () => {
+describe("auth-cookie (AES-256-GCM)", () => {
   it("signSession + verifySession round-trips a valid payload", async () => {
     const cookie = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
     const verified = await verifySession(cookie, SECRET, NOW);
     expect(verified).toEqual(validPayload());
   });
 
-  it("rejects when the payload portion has been tampered with", async () => {
+  it("uses a fresh IV per call so two encryptions of the same payload differ", async () => {
+    // Repeating the IV under AES-GCM is catastrophic (it leaks the XOR
+    // of plaintexts and the auth key). Lock in that signSession draws
+    // a new nonce every time — the byte-for-byte cookies must not match
+    // even when the inputs are identical.
+    const a = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
+    const b = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
+    expect(a).not.toBe(b);
+    // Both still decrypt correctly with the same secret.
+    expect(await verifySession(a, SECRET, NOW)).toEqual(validPayload());
+    expect(await verifySession(b, SECRET, NOW)).toEqual(validPayload());
+  });
+
+  it("ciphertext does NOT leak the userId in plaintext (confidentiality)", async () => {
     const cookie = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
-    // Flip the role to admin → user in the payload, keep the same signature.
+    // The whole point of the GCM upgrade: someone with only the cookie
-    const [, sig] = cookie.split(".");
+    // value should not be able to read the userId / role straight off
-    const tampered = btoa(JSON.stringify({ ...validPayload(), role: "user" }))
+    // it the way they could with the old base64-encoded JSON.
-      .replace(/\+/g, "-")
+    expect(cookie).not.toContain(validPayload().userId);
-      .replace(/\//g, "_")
+    expect(cookie).not.toContain("admin");
-      .replace(/=+$/, "") + "." + sig;
+  });
+
+  it("rejects when the ciphertext has been tampered with (auth tag mismatch)", async () => {
+    const cookie = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
+    const [iv, ct] = cookie.split(".");
+    // Flip the last character of the ciphertext (still valid base64url).
+    const lastCh = ct!.slice(-1);
+    const replacement = lastCh === "A" ? "B" : "A";
+    const tampered = `${iv}.${ct!.slice(0, -1)}${replacement}`;
     expect(await verifySession(tampered, SECRET, NOW)).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("rejects when the signature has been tampered with", async () => {
+  it("rejects when the IV has been swapped for another (auth tag mismatch)", async () => {
     const cookie = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
-    const [payload] = cookie.split(".");
+    const otherIv = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
-    const tampered = payload + ".AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA";
+    const [, ct] = cookie.split(".");
+    const [otherIvB64] = otherIv.split(".");
+    const tampered = `${otherIvB64}.${ct}`;
     expect(await verifySession(tampered, SECRET, NOW)).toBeNull();
   });
 
@@ -91,6 +114,21 @@ describe("auth-cookie", () => {
     expect(await verifySession("", SECRET, NOW)).toBeNull();
   });
 
+  it("rejects a cookie whose IV decodes to the wrong byte length", async () => {
+    // GCM requires a 12-byte nonce. Swap the IV portion for something
+    // that decodes to a different length and confirm we bounce it
+    // before handing weird input to crypto.subtle.decrypt.
+    const cookie = await signSession(validPayload(), SECRET);
+    const [, ct] = cookie.split(".");
+    // 8 bytes encoded — too short.
+    const shortIv = "AAAAAAAAAAA";
+    expect(await verifySession(`${shortIv}.${ct}`, SECRET, NOW)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("rejects malformed (non-base64url) input gracefully — no throw, just null", async () => {
+    expect(await verifySession("$$$.$$$", SECRET, NOW)).toBeNull();
+  });
+
   it("exposes COOKIE_NAME as 'session'", () => {
     expect(COOKIE_NAME).toBe("session");
   });

apps/web/src/lib/auth-cookie.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,18 @@
 /**
- * Edge-runtime-safe HMAC-signed session cookie. Runs in middleware
+ * Edge-runtime-safe AES-256-GCM session cookie. Runs in middleware
  * and Server Actions. NO database, NO bcrypt, NO Node-only APIs —
  * pure Web Crypto so it survives Edge runtime.
+ *
+ * Why GCM instead of HMAC-then-plaintext: GCM is authenticated
+ * encryption, so a leaked cookie no longer hands the userId/role to
+ * an attacker who only sees the bytes. Tampering with either the IV
+ * or the ciphertext invalidates the auth tag → decrypt throws → we
+ * return null. Replay protection comes from the per-payload `exp`
+ * field plus the global `OPERATOR_TOKEN_VERSION` kill switch.
+ *
+ * Cookie format: `<base64url(iv)>.<base64url(ciphertext+tag)>`
+ *   - iv:                12 random bytes (GCM nonce)
+ *   - ciphertext+tag:    AES-GCM output (plaintext + 16-byte auth tag)
  */
 
 export const COOKIE_NAME = "session";
@@ -44,35 +55,40 @@ function b64urlDecode(str: string): Uint8Array {
   return out;
 }
 
-async function importKey(secret: string): Promise<CryptoKey> {
+/**
+ * Derive a 256-bit AES key from the operator-supplied AUTH_SECRET.
+ * SHA-256 hashes the secret to a fixed-length key so the secret can
+ * be any printable string in env (no min/max length policing here).
+ */
+async function deriveKey(secret: string): Promise<CryptoKey> {
+  const digest = await crypto.subtle.digest(
+    "SHA-256",
+    new TextEncoder().encode(secret),
+  );
   return crypto.subtle.importKey(
     "raw",
-    new TextEncoder().encode(secret),
+    digest,
-    { name: "HMAC", hash: "SHA-256" },
+    { name: "AES-GCM" },
     false,
-    ["sign", "verify"],
+    ["encrypt", "decrypt"],
   );
 }
 
-/** Constant-time compare on byte arrays. Returns true iff equal. */
-function timingSafeEqual(a: Uint8Array, b: Uint8Array): boolean {
-  if (a.length !== b.length) return false;
-  let diff = 0;
-  for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) diff |= a[i]! ^ b[i]!;
-  return diff === 0;
-}
-
 export async function signSession(
   payload: SessionPayload,
   secret: string,
 ): Promise<string> {
-  const json = JSON.stringify(payload);
+  const iv = crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(12));
-  const payloadEnc = b64urlEncode(new TextEncoder().encode(json));
+  const key = await deriveKey(secret);
-  const key = await importKey(secret);
+  const plaintext = new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(payload));
-  const sigBytes = new Uint8Array(
+  const ct = new Uint8Array(
-    await crypto.subtle.sign("HMAC", key, new TextEncoder().encode(payloadEnc)),
+    await crypto.subtle.encrypt(
+      { name: "AES-GCM", iv: iv as BufferSource },
+      key,
+      plaintext as BufferSource,
+    ),
   );
-  return `${payloadEnc}.${b64urlEncode(sigBytes)}`;
+  return `${b64urlEncode(iv)}.${b64urlEncode(ct)}`;
 }
 
 export async function verifySession(
@@ -83,37 +99,50 @@ export async function verifySession(
   if (!cookie || typeof cookie !== "string") return null;
   const dot = cookie.indexOf(".");
   if (dot <= 0 || dot === cookie.length - 1) return null;
-  const payloadEnc = cookie.slice(0, dot);
+  let iv: Uint8Array;
-  const sigEnc = cookie.slice(dot + 1);
+  let ct: Uint8Array;
-
-  let sigBytes: Uint8Array;
   try {
-    sigBytes = b64urlDecode(sigEnc);
+    iv = b64urlDecode(cookie.slice(0, dot));
+    ct = b64urlDecode(cookie.slice(dot + 1));
   } catch {
     return null;
   }
-
+  // GCM nonces are exactly 12 bytes. A wrong-sized IV would still
-  const key = await importKey(secret);
+  // sometimes succeed at the WebCrypto layer on some platforms;
-  const expected = new Uint8Array(
+  // guard explicitly so callers can't slip a non-standard nonce past us.
-    await crypto.subtle.sign("HMAC", key, new TextEncoder().encode(payloadEnc)),
+  if (iv.length !== 12) return null;
-  );
+  let plain: string;
-  if (!timingSafeEqual(sigBytes, expected)) return null;
-
-  let json: string;
-  let payload: unknown;
   try {
-    json = new TextDecoder().decode(b64urlDecode(payloadEnc));
+    const key = await deriveKey(secret);
-    payload = JSON.parse(json);
+    // The IV in `AesGcmParams` must be backed by a non-shared
+    // ArrayBuffer; TS 5.7+ tightened Uint8Array's generic to reject
+    // `SharedArrayBuffer`-backed views. b64urlDecode produces a
+    // regular ArrayBuffer, but we cast to BufferSource explicitly so
+    // future allocator changes don't regress this site.
+    const buf = await crypto.subtle.decrypt(
+      { name: "AES-GCM", iv: iv as BufferSource },
+      key,
+      ct as BufferSource,
+    );
+    plain = new TextDecoder().decode(buf);
+  } catch {
+    // Auth-tag mismatch (tampered cookie or wrong key) lands here.
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(plain);
   } catch {
     return null;
   }
-  if (!isValidPayload(payload)) return null;
+  if (!isValidPayload(parsed)) return null;
 
-  if (payload.exp <= now) return null;
+  if (parsed.exp <= now) return null;
-  if (payload.iat > now + CLOCK_SKEW_SECONDS) return null;
+  if (parsed.iat > now + CLOCK_SKEW_SECONDS) return null;
 
   const expectedV = Number(process.env.OPERATOR_TOKEN_VERSION ?? "1");
-  if (payload.v !== expectedV) return null;
+  if (parsed.v !== expectedV) return null;
 
-  return payload;
+  return parsed;
 }