Refactor and Organize Access Control with authorizeHttpRequests in Spring Security

[krkarma777]

Issue Description

The current implementation of authorizeHttpRequests in our Spring Security configuration lacks systematic organization, leading to inconsistencies and potential security vulnerabilities. Access control for URLs that should be available only to users with specific roles is not clearly defined, raising the risk of exposing sensitive information to unauthorized users.

Objectives

• Clearly define access permissions for all URLs to strictly prevent unauthorized access.
• Organize URLs by roles and permissions to ensure that users can only access appropriate information and functionalities according to their roles.
• Review and refactor the existing Spring Security configuration to identify and address any redundancies or gaps in access control.

Expected Outcomes

• A well-documented and easily maintainable Spring Security configuration that explicitly defines access controls for different user roles.
• Improved security posture by eliminating unauthorized access and ensuring that users have access only to the resources that are relevant to their roles.

Steps to Resolve

1. Audit the current HttpSecurity configuration to list all the URLs and their corresponding access controls.
2. Identify URLs with missing or vague access control definitions.
3. Propose a new access control scheme that categorizes URLs by required roles and permissions.
4. Implement the proposed changes in the Spring Security configuration.
5. Test the updated configuration to ensure that it behaves as expected, with particular attention to previously identified security gaps.

This refactor is crucial for maintaining the security integrity of our application and ensuring that sensitive information is adequately protected.

Additional Notes

• Consider using method-level security annotations (@PreAuthorize, @PostAuthorize) for fine-grained access control where necessary.
• Ensure compatibility with any existing method-level security configurations.

Your prompt attention to this issue would be greatly appreciated to enhance our application's security framework.