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
| Endpoint | Limit | Burst | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| POST /auth/login | 5/min per IP + user | 10 | Captcha after 3 failures |
| POST /servers/:id/stop | 2/10min per admin | 2 | Requires step‑up MFA + approval |
| POST /users/:id/ban | 20/day per admin | 5 | Reason required; cooldown 30s |
| POST /api/keys | 3/day per admin | 1 | Keys 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| Super Admin | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Approve | With reason | Manage | Manage |
| App Admin | Per‑app | Per‑app | Start/Stop | Per‑app | Per‑app | Request | Limited | Per‑app | Request |
| User Manager | Limited | Full | — | Read | — | — | — | — | — |
| Auditor | Read | — | — | Full | — | — | — | — | — |
| Support (RO) | Read | — | — | Read | — | — | — | — | — |
| Approval Officer | Portal | — | — | Read | — | Approve/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
| Severity | Trigger | Action |
|---|---|---|
| SEV‑1 | Unauthorized admin action | Pager + block session |
| SEV‑2 | MFA failures spike | Notify security; enable captcha |
| SEV‑3 | Server stop pending > 5m | Escalate 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.