Guard.js: Lock Down Sensitive Modules

This is a proof of concept, and a work in progress

Lock down all sensitive operations behind a special token that is passed around only to trusted code.

Example:

// Fail
console.log(process.cwd());

// OK
guard.withPerm(guard.token, {process: {cwd: true}}, () => {
  console.log(process.cwd());
});

The Problem Guard.js Solves

Problem: any 3rd party library you include (or they, or their dependencies, or their dependencies' dependencies, or ...) has immediate full access to your entire system. This leads to:

• https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/07/12/npm_eslint/
• https://medium.com/@jsoverson/how-two-malicious-npm-packages-targeted-sabotaged-one-other-fed7199099c8
• dominictarr/event-stream#116
• ...

Malicious packages which steal credentials or other private data, and which have an outsized effect due to the incredibly top-heavy node.js dependency trees.

Work in Progress

We're evaluating whether this approach is even feasible, at all. Maybe it's impossible. Time will tell.

Authors and License

The authors are listed in the AUTHORS file, the license is kept in the LICENSE file.