Step 1: Validation 🧾
The first step in securing your Livewire components is making sure you validate all incoming data. Laravel provides an easy way to do this using the validate() method.
public function save()
{
$validatedData = $this->validate([
'name' => 'required',
'email' => 'required|email',
]);
User::create($validatedData);
}
In this snippet, we are validating the name and email fields. If the validation fails, Laravel will automatically redirect the user back to their previous location and flash all input and errors into the session 👌.
Step 2: Mass Assignment Protection 🛡️
After validation, the next step is to protect against mass assignment vulnerabilities - a type of security vulnerability where an attacker is able to freely modify database entries they should not have access to. To do this, you'll want to use Laravel's $fillable property in your models.
class User extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['name', 'email'];
}
In the code snippet above, we have defined a $fillable property on our User model to specify which fields should be mass-assignable.
Step 3: Authorization Checks 🚧
Even if the incoming data is valid and does not cause any mass assignment issues, we need to make sure the authenticated user has the required permissions to perform the action. This can be achieved through authorization checks. Laravel provides a very smooth way of doing this using its Gate Facade.
Gate::authorize('update', $user);
//The rest of the logic goes here
In this snippet, Laravel checks if the authenticated user has the permission to update the $user. If they don't, a 403 HTTP response will automatically be thrown 👍.
Step 4: Protect against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) 👥
Laravel also automates protection against one of the most common types of vulnerabilities - Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF). CSRF vulnerabilities allow a user to be tricked into making a request they did not intend to make. Laravel's CSRF protection generates a csrf-token for every active user session. This token is used to verify that the authenticated user is the one actually making the requests to the application.
<form method="POST" action="/profile">
@csrf
<!-- The rest of the form inputs goes here -->
</form>
In the code snippet above, the @csrf directive is a shorthand for {!! csrf_field() !!}. This will generate a hidden input field containing the token that the Laravel application can use to verify the source of the request.
Security is a fundamental part of any application, and Laravel provides several amazing features to make securing your application as easy as possible. Remember, security should never be an afterthought, but rather integrated into your development process.
More information about Laravel Livewire can be found in the official documentation. Keep in mind, technology evolves pretty fast so some aspects might have changed by the time you come across this post. Happy coding everyone! 😄
