security: add helmet, rate limiting, strict CORS, input sanitization.

- Add helmet for secure HTTP response headers.
- Add express-rate-limit: 60 req/min general, 20 req/min on LLM endpoints.
- Restrict CORS to localhost origins in dev, CORS_ORIGIN env var in prod.
- Cap request body at 16kb.
- Add sanitizeText() to strip control chars on all string inputs.
- Add isValidStandardId() regex guard on :id param and standard_id fields.
- All route handlers use sanitized values; no raw req.body/req.query access.

web/server/index.js

@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 require("dotenv").config();
 
-const express = require("express");
+const express    = require("express");
-const cors    = require("cors");
+const cors       = require("cors");
-const path    = require("path");
+const helmet     = require("helmet");
-const fs      = require("fs");
+const rateLimit  = require("express-rate-limit");
+const path       = require("path");
+const fs         = require("fs");
 
 const { generateExplanation, answerQuestion, rewriteQuery } = require("./services/llmService");
 const { retrieve } = require("./services/retrieverService");
@@ -20,8 +22,50 @@ if (!process.env.GROQ_API_KEY) {
   );
 }
 
-app.use(cors());
+// ── Security headers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-app.use(express.json());
+
+app.use(helmet());
+
+// ── CORS — restrict to configured origin or localhost dev ────────────────────
+
+const ALLOWED_ORIGINS = process.env.CORS_ORIGIN
+  ? process.env.CORS_ORIGIN.split(",").map((o) => o.trim())
+  : ["http://localhost:5173", "http://localhost:4173", `http://localhost:${PORT}`];
+
+app.use(cors({
+  origin: (origin, cb) => {
+    // Allow non-browser requests (curl, server-to-server) and configured origins
+    if (!origin || ALLOWED_ORIGINS.includes(origin)) return cb(null, true);
+    cb(new Error(`CORS: origin ${origin} not allowed`));
+  },
+  methods: ["GET", "POST"],
+  allowedHeaders: ["Content-Type"],
+}));
+
+// ── Rate limiting ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const apiLimiter = rateLimit({
+  windowMs: 60 * 1000,
+  max: 60,
+  standardHeaders: true,
+  legacyHeaders: false,
+  message: { error: "Too many requests. Please wait a moment and try again." },
+});
+
+const llmLimiter = rateLimit({
+  windowMs: 60 * 1000,
+  max: 20,
+  standardHeaders: true,
+  legacyHeaders: false,
+  message: { error: "AI request limit reached. Please wait before trying again." },
+});
+
+app.use("/api/", apiLimiter);
+app.use("/api/recommend", llmLimiter);
+app.use("/api/ask",       llmLimiter);
+app.use("/api/chat",      llmLimiter);
+
+app.use(express.json({ limit: "16kb" }));
 
 // ── Load data ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -55,6 +99,21 @@ for (const c of chunks) {
   chunksByStd[c.standard_id].push(c);
 }
 
+// ── Input sanitization ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+const CONTROL_CHAR_RE = /[\x00-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\x1F\x7F]/g;
+
+function sanitizeText(value, maxLen = 500) {
+  if (typeof value !== "string") return "";
+  return value.replace(CONTROL_CHAR_RE, "").slice(0, maxLen).trim();
+}
+
+// standard_id must match IS identifier pattern: letters/digits/spaces/colons/parens/dots/hyphens
+const STANDARD_ID_RE = /^[A-Za-z0-9 :()./-]{1,60}$/;
+function isValidStandardId(id) {
+  return typeof id === "string" && STANDARD_ID_RE.test(id.trim());
+}
+
 // ── Structured logger ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 function log(endpoint, data) {
@@ -115,9 +174,10 @@ function bestChunk(standardId, question) {
 
 // ── GET /api/standards ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 app.get("/api/standards", (req, res) => {
-  const { q = "", category = "", page = "1", limit = "20" } = req.query;
+  const q        = sanitizeText(req.query.q || "", 200);
-  const pageNum  = Math.max(1, parseInt(page));
+  const category = sanitizeText(req.query.category || "", 100);
-  const limitNum = Math.min(100, Math.max(1, parseInt(limit)));
+  const pageNum  = Math.max(1, parseInt(req.query.page) || 1);
+  const limitNum = Math.min(100, Math.max(1, parseInt(req.query.limit) || 20));
 
   let results = standards;
   if (category) results = results.filter((s) => s.category === category);
@@ -139,9 +199,12 @@ app.get("/api/standards", (req, res) => {
 
 // ── GET /api/standards/:id ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 app.get("/api/standards/:id", (req, res) => {
-  const id       = decodeURIComponent(req.params.id);
+  const raw = decodeURIComponent(req.params.id);
-  const standard = standardsById[id];
+  if (!isValidStandardId(raw)) {
-  if (!standard) return res.status(404).json({ error: "Standard not found" });
+    return res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid standard ID format." });
+  }
+  const standard = standardsById[raw.trim()];
+  if (!standard) return res.status(404).json({ error: "Standard not found." });
   res.json(standard);
 });
 
@@ -175,19 +238,19 @@ app.get("/api/stats", (req, res) => {
  * Output: { standards, latency: { retrieval_ms, llm_ms, total_ms } }
  */
 app.post("/api/recommend", async (req, res) => {
-  const { query, top_n = 5, rewrite = false } = req.body;
+  const rawQuery = req.body?.query;
+  const top_n    = Math.min(10, Math.max(1, parseInt(req.body?.top_n) || 5));
+  const rewrite  = req.body?.rewrite === true;
 
-  if (!query || typeof query !== "string" || !query.trim()) {
+  const query = sanitizeText(rawQuery, 500);
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "query is required." });
+  if (!query) {
-  }
+    return res.status(400).json({ error: "query is required and must be a non-empty string." });
-  if (query.length > 500) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "query must be 500 characters or fewer." });
   }
 
   const t0 = Date.now();
 
   // Step 1 — Optional query rewrite (fires concurrently, falls back silently)
-  let effectiveQuery = query.trim();
+  let effectiveQuery = query;
   if (rewrite && process.env.GROQ_API_KEY) {
     effectiveQuery = await rewriteQuery(query.trim()); // never throws
   }
@@ -196,7 +259,7 @@ app.post("/api/recommend", async (req, res) => {
   let retrievalResult;
   const tRetStart = Date.now();
   try {
-    retrievalResult = await retrieve(effectiveQuery, Math.min(top_n, 10));
+    retrievalResult = await retrieve(effectiveQuery, top_n);
   } catch (err) {
     console.error("[recommend] Retrieval error:", err.message);
     return res.status(502).json({ error: "Retrieval service unavailable. Please try again." });
@@ -264,16 +327,14 @@ app.post("/api/recommend", async (req, res) => {
  * Output: { answer, source: { standard_id, section, chunk_id } }
  */
 app.post("/api/ask", async (req, res) => {
-  const { question, standard_id } = req.body;
+  const question    = sanitizeText(req.body?.question, 500);
+  const standard_id = sanitizeText(req.body?.standard_id, 60);
 
-  if (!question || typeof question !== "string" || !question.trim()) {
+  if (!question) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question is required." });
+    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question is required and must be a non-empty string." });
   }
-  if (!standard_id || typeof standard_id !== "string") {
+  if (!standard_id || !isValidStandardId(standard_id)) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "standard_id is required." });
+    return res.status(400).json({ error: "standard_id is required and must be a valid IS identifier." });
-  }
-  if (question.length > 500) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question must be 500 characters or fewer." });
   }
 
   const t0 = Date.now();
@@ -284,7 +345,7 @@ app.post("/api/ask", async (req, res) => {
   }
 
   const tLlm = Date.now();
-  const answer = await answerQuestion(question.trim(), chunk.text); // never throws
+  const answer = await answerQuestion(question, chunk.text); // never throws
   const llmMs  = Date.now() - tLlm;
   const totalMs = Date.now() - t0;
 
@@ -316,16 +377,16 @@ app.post("/api/chat", async (req, res) => {
     return res.status(503).json({ error: "AI features are not configured on this server." });
   }
 
-  const { standard_id, question } = req.body;
+  const question    = sanitizeText(req.body?.question, 500);
+  const standard_id = sanitizeText(req.body?.standard_id || "", 60);
 
-  if (!question || typeof question !== "string" || !question.trim()) {
+  if (!question) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question is required." });
+    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question is required and must be a non-empty string." });
-  }
-  if (question.length > 500) {
-    return res.status(400).json({ error: "question must be 500 characters or fewer." });
   }
 
-  const std = standard_id ? standardsById[standard_id] : null;
+  const std = (standard_id && isValidStandardId(standard_id))
+    ? standardsById[standard_id] ?? null
+    : null;
   let chunkText = "";
 
   if (std) {

web/server/package-lock.json

@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@
       "dependencies": {
         "cors": "^2.8.6",
         "dotenv": "^17.4.2",
-        "express": "^5.2.1"
+        "express": "^5.2.1",
+        "express-rate-limit": "^8.4.1",
+        "helmet": "^8.1.0"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/accepts": {
@@ -301,6 +303,24 @@
         "url": "https://opencollective.com/express"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/express-rate-limit": {
+      "version": "8.4.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/express-rate-limit/-/express-rate-limit-8.4.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-NGVYwQSAyEQgzxX1iCM978PP9AdO/hW93gMcF6ZwQCm+rFvLsBH6w4xcXWTcliS8La5EPRN3p9wzItqBwJrfNw==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "dependencies": {
+        "ip-address": "10.1.0"
+      },
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">= 16"
+      },
+      "funding": {
+        "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/express-rate-limit"
+      },
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "express": ">= 4.11"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/finalhandler": {
       "version": "2.1.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/finalhandler/-/finalhandler-2.1.1.tgz",
@@ -422,6 +442,15 @@
         "node": ">= 0.4"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/helmet": {
+      "version": "8.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/helmet/-/helmet-8.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-jOiHyAZsmnr8LqoPGmCjYAaiuWwjAPLgY8ZX2XrmHawt99/u1y6RgrZMTeoPfpUbV96HOalYgz1qzkRbw54Pmg==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">=18.0.0"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/http-errors": {
       "version": "2.0.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/http-errors/-/http-errors-2.0.1.tgz",
@@ -464,6 +493,15 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-k/vGaX4/Yla3WzyMCvTQOXYeIHvqOKtnqBduzTHpzpQZzAskKMhZ2K+EnBiSM9zGSoIFeMpXKxa4dYeZIQqewQ==",
       "license": "ISC"
     },
+    "node_modules/ip-address": {
+      "version": "10.1.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ip-address/-/ip-address-10.1.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-XXADHxXmvT9+CRxhXg56LJovE+bmWnEWB78LB83VZTprKTmaC5QfruXocxzTZ2Kl0DNwKuBdlIhjL8LeY8Sf8Q==",
+      "license": "MIT",
+      "engines": {
+        "node": ">= 12"
+      }
+    },
     "node_modules/ipaddr.js": {
       "version": "1.9.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/ipaddr.js/-/ipaddr.js-1.9.1.tgz",

web/server/package.json

@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
   "main": "index.js",
   "scripts": {
     "start": "node start.js",
-    "dev":   "node start.js",
+    "dev": "node start.js",
-    "test":  "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
+    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
   },
   "keywords": [],
   "author": "",
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "cors": "^2.8.6",
     "dotenv": "^17.4.2",
-    "express": "^5.2.1"
+    "express": "^5.2.1",
+    "express-rate-limit": "^8.4.1",
+    "helmet": "^8.1.0"
   }
 }