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Overview

This document captures the design, features, and security recommendations for a centralized administration system managing multiple apps. It includes user lifecycle controls (ban/kick), server orchestration (on/off), productivity utilities (to‑do list with DB), data storage, an external approval app, Google authentication, and a role-based access model.

Auth
Google Sign‑In + (2FA recommended)
Access
RBAC (granular permissions)
Protection
External Approval Gate

Current Capabilities

Modularized by feature families. Consider enabling/disable per app (feature flags).

Admin & User Controls

  • Ban / Kick per app with reason, duration, and evidence links.
  • Session invalidation and token revocation on ban.
  • User notes & case history (tamper‑evident).
  • Impersonation for troubleshooting (log + approval).

Server & App Operations

  • Start / Stop servers with safeguards (two‑person rule optional).
  • Drains, maintenance mode, and traffic ramp‑up (0→25→50→100%).
  • Change windows & automatic rollback on health check failure.

Productivity

  • Online to‑do list (multi‑tenant by app; assignees & due dates).
  • Data storage with per‑app namespaces; retention policies.
  • Saved views & subscriptions (email or webhook digest).

External Protection

  • Approval app for gated admin access.
  • Device & location checks; manual or automatic decisions.
  • Audit record linking request ⇄ session issuance.

Security Program

Defense‑in‑depth across identity, secrets, data, network, and runtime.

Identity & Access

  • Enforce domain allowlist & verified emails with Google OAuth.
  • MFA/2FA for privileged actions and login (step‑up auth).
  • Short‑lived sessions; refresh token rotation and revocation.
  • Scoped API keys per integration; least‑privilege for service accounts.

Secrets & Config

  • Use a secrets vault / KMS; never store secrets in code or logs.
  • Per‑environment secrets; automatic key rotation.
  • Secure bootstrapping (instance metadata or OIDC workload identity).

Data Protection

  • TLS 1.2+ in transit; DB encryption at rest; field‑level encrypt PII.
  • Row‑level security by app; soft‑delete with tombstones.
  • Retention & destruction schedules per data class.

Network & Runtime

  • WAF + rate limiting + bot protection on admin endpoints.
  • Zero‑trust (mTLS or IP allowlists for internal control plane).
  • Read‑only FS for app containers; seccomp/AppArmor; minimal base images.
Recommended Security Headers
# Example (Express.js)
app.use(helmet({
  contentSecurityPolicy: {
    useDefaults: true,
    directives: {
      "default-src": ["'self'"],
      "img-src": ["'self'", "data:"],
      "script-src": ["'self'"],
      "style-src": ["'self'", "'unsafe-inline'"],
    },
  },
  referrerPolicy: { policy: "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" },
  frameguard: { action: "deny" },
  hsts: { maxAge: 63072000, includeSubDomains: true, preload: true },
  crossOriginEmbedderPolicy: true,
  crossOriginOpenerPolicy: true,
  crossOriginResourcePolicy: { policy: "same-site" }
}));
Abuse Controls & Rate Limits
EndpointLimitBurstNotes
POST /auth/login5/min per IP + user10Captcha after 3 failures
POST /servers/:id/stop2/10min per admin2Requires step‑up MFA + approval
POST /users/:id/ban20/day per admin5Reason required; cooldown 30s
POST /api/keys3/day per admin1Keys scoped + expires in 90d

RBAC Matrix (Sample)

Adapt to your exact needs. Favor deny‑by‑default.

Role Admin App Access Manage Users Server Control View Logs Policy Changes Approvals Impersonate Integrations Backups
OwnerFullFullFullFullFullFullFullFullFull
Super AdminFullFullFullFullFullApproveWith reasonManageManage
App AdminPer‑appPer‑appStart/StopPer‑appPer‑appRequestLimitedPer‑appRequest
User ManagerLimitedFullRead
AuditorReadFull
Support (RO)ReadRead
Approval OfficerPortalReadApprove/Reject

API & Safeguards

Design endpoints with explicit scopes and strong controls.

Example REST Endpoints

POST /v1/users/{'}}id{{'}/ban
Body: {"reason":"abuse","duration":"7d"}

POST /v1/servers/{'}}id{{'}/start
POST /v1/servers/{'}}id{{'}/stop

POST /v1/approvals/requests
GET  /v1/approvals/requests?status=pending

POST /v1/todo
GET  /v1/todo?app=appA&assignee=me

Safeguards

  • Idempotency keys for all POST/PUT actions.
  • Step‑up MFA for destructive ops (server stop, policy change).
  • Two‑person approval optional for high‑risk actions.
  • Change tickets linked to requests; automatic rollback on failure.

Example Policy (YAML)

policies:
  - name: stop-server
    risk: high
    requires:
      - step_up_mfa
      - approval: 2
      - window: "Mon-Fri 09:00-18:00 Asia/Jerusalem"
  - name: user-ban
    risk: medium
    requires:
      - reason
      - cooldown: 30s
      - notify: security@company

Security Events (JSON)

{
  "type": "server.stop",
  "actor": {"id":"admin_123","role":"super_admin"},
  "target": {"type":"server","id":"srv-9ab"},
  "app": "payments",
  "ip": "203.0.113.8",
  "ua": "Mozilla/5.0",
  "ts": "2025-10-15T12:34:56Z",
  "status": "approved",
  "correlation_id": "3fcb…",
  "meta": {"reason":"maintenance"},
  "signature": "hmac-sha256:…"
}

Observability

Audit & Monitoring

  • Immutable audit log; chained hashes for tamper evidence.
  • SIEM integration; anomaly alerts on unusual patterns.
  • Metrics: auth success/fail, bans, approval latency, server ops, rate‑limit hits.
  • Traces: correlate approval request → action execution.

Alerting

SeverityTriggerAction
SEV‑1Unauthorized admin actionPager + block session
SEV‑2MFA failures spikeNotify security; enable captcha
SEV‑3Server stop pending > 5mEscalate to approvers

Operations & Disaster Recovery

Backups

  • Daily full + hourly incrementals; encrypted; off‑site copy.
  • Test restores monthly; track RPO ≤ 15m, RTO ≤ 60m.
  • Separate keys for backup encryption; access via break‑glass.

Change Management

  • Maintenance windows; freeze periods; feature flags.
  • Blue/green or canary for risky updates.
  • Runbooks with explicit rollback steps.

Approval App Flow

Sequence showing gated access to the admin portal.

Admin → Approval App → Security Checks → Approver(s) → Token Issued → Admin System
   │           │             │                │             │
   │ 1. Request access (reason, scope, time)  │             │
   │           ├── Device posture, IP, geo    │             │
   │           ├── Risk score                 │             │
   │           └── Create approval ticket     │             │
   │                         │                │             │
   └────────────────────────▶│ 2. Approvers notified        │
                             │                │             │
                             └───────────────▶│ 3. Approve/Reject
                                              │             │
                                              └────────────▶│ 4. Short‑lived token
                                                                        │
                                                                        └── 5. Access granted (scoped)

Suggested Schemas

Audit Log (SQL)

CREATE TABLE audit_log (
  id BIGSERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  actor_id TEXT NOT NULL,
  actor_role TEXT NOT NULL,
  action TEXT NOT NULL,
  target_type TEXT NOT NULL,
  target_id TEXT,
  app_id TEXT,
  ip INET,
  user_agent TEXT,
  ts TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now(),
  status TEXT NOT NULL,
  correlation_id TEXT,
  metadata JSONB,
  hash BYTEA -- chain hash(prev_hash || row_sha)
);
CREATE INDEX ON audit_log (ts);
CREATE INDEX ON audit_log (actor_id, ts DESC);
CREATE INDEX ON audit_log (action);

To‑Do Items (SQL)

CREATE TABLE todo (
  id BIGSERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  app_id TEXT NOT NULL,
  title TEXT NOT NULL,
  details TEXT,
  assignee TEXT,
  due_date DATE,
  status TEXT CHECK (status IN ('open','in_progress','done','blocked')) DEFAULT 'open',
  created_by TEXT NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT now()
);
CREATE INDEX ON todo (app_id, status);

Application Hardening Checklist

  • CSRF tokens on state‑changing requests; SameSite=Lax cookies; HttpOnly + Secure.
  • Input validation and output encoding; parameterized queries (no string SQL).
  • CSP, HSTS, X‑Frame‑Options, Referrer‑Policy, Permissions‑Policy.
  • Strict dependency pinning; SBOM; automated vulnerability scanning.
  • Rotate secrets/keys; revoke tokens on role changes or ban.
  • Limit pagination and export sizes; streaming for large exports.
  • Comprehensive unit/integration/e2e tests for auth paths.