WellNuo/SECURITY_CREDENTIALS_CLEANUP.md

Security: Hardcoded Credentials Cleanup

Summary

All hardcoded credentials have been removed from the codebase and replaced with environment variables.

Changes Made

1. Updated Files (Removed Hardcoded Credentials)

Backend Scripts

• backend/check-legacy-deployments.js - Database and Legacy API credentials
• backend/fix-legacy-deployments.js - Legacy API token
• backend/scripts/create-test-user.js - Database credentials
• backend/scripts/inspect-db.js - Database credentials

Root Scripts

• scripts/fetch-otp.js - Database credentials
• scripts/legacy-api/create_deployment.sh - Legacy API token
• mqtt-test.js - MQTT credentials

2. Updated Configuration

backend/.env.example

Added the following environment variables:

# Database (PostgreSQL)
DB_HOST=your-db-host
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=your-db-name
DB_USER=your-db-user
DB_PASSWORD=your-db-password

# Legacy API (eluxnetworks.net)
LEGACY_API_USERNAME=your-username
LEGACY_API_TOKEN=your-jwt-token

# MQTT Configuration
MQTT_BROKER=mqtt://mqtt.eluxnetworks.net:1883
MQTT_USER=your-mqtt-username
MQTT_PASSWORD=your-mqtt-password

3. New Documentation Files

• scripts/README.md - Documentation for root scripts
• backend/scripts/README.md - Documentation for backend scripts
• MQTT_TESTING.md - MQTT testing guide
• SECURITY_CREDENTIALS_CLEANUP.md - This file

Required Action

Before Running Scripts

Ensure that backend/.env contains all required credentials:

# Database
DB_HOST=eluxnetworks.net
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=wellnuo_app
DB_USER=your-username
DB_PASSWORD=your-password

# Legacy API
LEGACY_API_USERNAME=robster
LEGACY_API_TOKEN=your-actual-jwt-token

# MQTT
MQTT_BROKER=mqtt://mqtt.eluxnetworks.net:1883
MQTT_USER=your-mqtt-username
MQTT_PASSWORD=your-mqtt-password

Security Best Practices

1. ✅ Never commit .env files (already in .gitignore)
2. ✅ Use environment variables for all credentials
3. ✅ Keep .env.example updated but without real values
4. ✅ Document required environment variables in README files
5. ✅ Review code regularly for accidentally committed secrets

Remaining Credentials in Repository

The following files contain credentials but are acceptable:

Documentation (Examples Only)

• docs/API_INTEGRATION_REQUEST.md - Example JWT format
• docs/MQTT_NOTIFICATIONS_ARCHITECTURE.md - Example usage
• MQTT-DESCRIPTION.md - Historical documentation with example commands

Configuration (Git-Ignored)

• backend/.env - Git-ignored - Contains actual credentials

Test Data (Git-Ignored)

• wellnuoSheme/*.json - Schema files (should be git-ignored)

External Collections

• api/Wellnuo_API.postman_collection.json - Postman collection (expired test tokens)

Verification

To verify no credentials are hardcoded in active code:

# Check for database passwords
grep -r "W31153Rg31" --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=.git \
  --exclude-dir=temp_serve --exclude-dir=wellnuoSheme

# Check for MQTT passwords
grep -r "anandk_8" --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=.git \
  --exclude-dir=temp_serve --exclude-dir=wellnuoSheme

# Check for JWT tokens (should only be in .env and docs)
grep -r "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9" \
  --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=.git \
  --exclude-dir=temp_serve --exclude-dir=wellnuoSheme \
  --exclude-dir=api

Status

✅ All hardcoded credentials removed from active code ✅ Environment variables configured ✅ Documentation updated ✅ Scripts updated to use .env

Next Steps

1. Review backend/.env and ensure all credentials are up to date
2. Update any expired JWT tokens
3. Consider rotating credentials that were previously hardcoded
4. Add wellnuoSheme/ to .gitignore if it contains sensitive data