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Security: Zae-Project/brain-emulation

Security

SECURITY.md

Security Policy

Project Status

Brain Emulation is currently in research phase (pre-v1.0). While we take security seriously, this project is intended for educational and research purposes, not production deployment.


Supported Versions

VersionSupportedStatus
mainActive development
< 1.0Pre-release, no security guarantees

Note: Once v1.0 is released, we will establish a formal security update policy.


Reporting a Vulnerability

We appreciate responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities. Please do not open public GitHub issues for security concerns.

How to Report

Email: security@todosloscobardesdelvalle.com

Subject Line: [SECURITY] Brain Emulation - Brief Description

What to Include

Please provide:

  1. Description: Clear description of the vulnerability
  2. Impact: What could an attacker achieve?
  3. Reproduction Steps: Step-by-step instructions to reproduce
  4. Affected Components: Which files/modules are affected
  5. Suggested Fix (optional): If you have ideas for mitigation
  6. Your Contact Info: For follow-up questions

Example Report

Subject: [SECURITY] Brain Emulation - WebSocket Command Injection
Description:
The WebSocket server in server.py does not validate command types,
allowing arbitrary JSON commands to be executed.
Impact:
An attacker could inject malicious commands to manipulate network
parameters or cause denial of service.
Reproduction:
1. Connect to WebSocket server at ws://localhost:9001
2. Send: {"cmd": "__import__", "value": "os"}
3. Server executes arbitrary Python code
Affected Components:
- server.py, lines 238-350 (WebSocket handler)
Suggested Fix:
Implement command whitelist and JSON schema validation.

Response Timeline

  • Acknowledgment: Within 48 hours of report
  • Initial Assessment: Within 1 week
  • Fix Development: Depends on severity (see below)
  • Public Disclosure: 90 days after patch release (coordinated disclosure)

Severity Levels

SeverityFix TimelineExample
Critical7 daysRemote code execution, data exfiltration
High30 daysAuthentication bypass, privilege escalation
Medium60 daysInformation disclosure, denial of service
Low90 daysMinor configuration issues, non-exploitable bugs

Security Considerations

Current Security Features

What We Have:

  • WebSocket server with localhost binding by default
  • Basic input validation for network parameters
  • JSON message format for structured communication

What We're Missing (known limitations):

  • No authentication mechanism for WebSocket connections
  • No rate limiting for commands
  • No encryption for WebSocket traffic (use WSS in production)
  • No input sanitization for JSON commands
  • No audit logging
  • No session management

Known Limitations

This project is a research tool with the following security limitations:

  1. No Authentication: WebSocket server accepts all connections

    • Risk: Anyone on localhost can connect and control the simulation
    • Mitigation: Do not expose the server to untrusted networks
  2. No Input Validation: Commands are not fully validated

    • Risk: Malformed JSON could crash the server
    • Mitigation: Use only trusted clients
  3. No Rate Limiting: No protection against DoS attacks

    • Risk: Rapid command injection could overwhelm the server
    • Mitigation: Deploy behind a proxy with rate limiting
  4. No Encryption: Data transmitted in plaintext

    • Risk: Network eavesdropping possible
    • Mitigation: Use WSS (WebSocket Secure) for sensitive deployments

Threat Model

What we protect against:

  • Accidental misconfigurations
  • Basic input validation errors
  • Unintended network exposure

What we DON'T protect against (not in scope for research phase):

  • Determined attackers with network access
  • Insider threats
  • Social engineering
  • Physical access attacks
  • Supply chain attacks

Secure Deployment Recommendations

If you must deploy this in a less-trusted environment:

1. Network Isolation

# Bind only to localhost (default)# server.py line 397: websockets.serve(handler, "127.0.0.1", 9001)# Do NOT expose to 0.0.0.0 without authentication

2. Use WSS (WebSocket Secure)

importsslssl_context=ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_SERVER)
ssl_context.load_cert_chain('cert.pem', 'key.pem')
awaitwebsockets.serve(handler, "127.0.0.1", 9001, ssl=ssl_context)

3. Implement Rate Limiting

fromcollectionsimportdefaultdictimporttimerate_limiter=defaultdict(list)
defcheck_rate_limit(client_id, max_requests=10, window=1.0):
now=time.time()
# Remove old requests outside windowrate_limiter[client_id] = [tfortinrate_limiter[client_id] ifnow-t<window]
iflen(rate_limiter[client_id]) >=max_requests:
returnFalse# Rate limit exceededrate_limiter[client_id].append(now)
returnTrue

4. Add Authentication

importsecretsAPI_KEYS= {"your-secret-key-here"}
asyncdefauthenticate(websocket):
auth_msg=awaitwebsocket.recv()
auth_data=json.loads(auth_msg)
returnauth_data.get("api_key") inAPI_KEYS

Security Roadmap

Planned security improvements for future versions:

v0.9 (Pre-release hardening)

  • JSON schema validation for all commands
  • Rate limiting implementation
  • Basic API key authentication
  • Audit logging for all commands

v1.0 (Production-ready)

  • WSS (TLS/SSL) support
  • Session management
  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Full input sanitization
  • Security documentation and threat modeling

v1.5 (Advanced security)

  • JWT-based authentication
  • OAuth2 integration
  • Intrusion detection system
  • Security audit trail
  • Automated vulnerability scanning

Responsible Disclosure

We follow a coordinated disclosure policy:

  1. Report received → We acknowledge within 48 hours
  2. Vulnerability confirmed → We develop a fix
  3. Patch released → We notify you before public release
  4. Public disclosure → 90 days after patch, or earlier with agreement

Recognition

Security researchers who responsibly disclose vulnerabilities will be:

  • Credited in CONTRIBUTORS.md (with permission)
  • Acknowledged in release notes
  • Listed in a Security Hall of Fame (coming soon)

Security Best Practices

If you're using this project:

For Researchers

Do:

  • Run the server on localhost only
  • Use trusted networks
  • Keep dependencies updated (pip install --upgrade)
  • Review code before running

Don't:

  • Expose the WebSocket server to the internet
  • Use this in production systems
  • Process untrusted user input
  • Connect to untrusted WebSocket servers

For Developers

Do:

  • Validate all inputs
  • Use parameterized queries (if adding database)
  • Follow principle of least privilege
  • Add tests for security-critical code
  • Use safe deserialization methods

Don't:

  • Use eval() or exec() on user input
  • Trust client-side validation alone
  • Store secrets in code or git
  • Ignore security warnings from tools

Dependency Security

We use automated tools to monitor dependencies:

  • Dependabot: Automated dependency updates
  • Safety: Python dependency vulnerability scanner
  • Bandit: Python code security scanner

See .github/workflows/test.yml for our CI/CD security checks.


Questions?

For security questions (non-vulnerability):

For vulnerabilities:


Last Updated: January 22, 2026 Version: 1.0.0 Next Review: March 2026

There aren't any published security advisories