Laravel Security Best Practices

Comprehensive security guidelines for Laravel applications to protect against common vulnerabilities.

When to Activate

• Setting up Laravel authentication and authorization (Sanctum, Passport, Jetstream, Breeze)
• Implementing user roles, permissions, and policies
• Configuring production security settings and environment variables
• Reviewing Laravel applications for security vulnerabilities
• Deploying Laravel applications to production
• Writing secure Eloquent queries and migrations

Production Configuration

Essential Production Settings

// config/app.php
'env' => env('APP_ENV', 'production'),
'debug' => (bool) env('APP_DEBUG', false), // CRITICAL: Never true in production
'key' => env('APP_KEY'), // Must be set: php artisan key:generate

// config/session.php
'secure' => env('SESSION_SECURE_COOKIE', true),
'http_only' => true,
'same_site' => 'lax',

// Verify APP_KEY is set at boot
// bootstrap/app.php or a service provider
if (empty(config('app.key'))) {
    throw new RuntimeException('APP_KEY is not set. Run: php artisan key:generate');
}

Environment File Security

# NEVER commit .env to version control
# .gitignore already includes .env by default

# Use .env.example with placeholders instead
DB_PASSWORD=
APP_KEY=
SANCTUM_TOKEN_PREFIX=

# Validate required variables at boot
// In AppServiceProvider::boot()
$requiredKeys = ['app.key', 'database.connections.mysql.database', 'database.connections.mysql.username'];
foreach ($requiredKeys as $key) {
    if (empty(config($key))) {
        throw new RuntimeException("Missing required config key: {$key}");
    }
}

HTTPS Enforcement

// AppServiceProvider::boot() or middleware
if (app()->environment('production')) {
    URL::forceScheme('https');
    request()->server->set('HTTPS', 'on');
}

// config/app.php for trusted proxies (load balancers)
// Use specific IP ranges — * trusts all, allowing X-Forwarded-* spoofing
// AWS: '10.0.0.0/8', '172.16.0.0/12', '192.168.0.0/16'
'trusted_proxies' => ['10.0.0.0/8', '172.16.0.0/12'],

// Force HTTPS in production via middleware
// app/Http/Middleware/ForceHttps.php
public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    if (!$request->secure() && app()->environment('production')) {
        return redirect()->secure($request->getRequestUri());
    }
    return $next($request);
}

Authentication

Sanctum (API Token Authentication)

// config/sanctum.php
'stateful' => explode(',', env('SANCTUM_STATEFUL_DOMAINS', sprintf(
    '%s%s',
    'localhost,localhost:3000,127.0.0.1,127.0.0.1:8000,::1',
    env('APP_URL') ? ',' . parse_url(env('APP_URL'), PHP_URL_HOST) : ''
)));

'expiration' => 60 * 24, // Token expiration in minutes (null = never)
'token_prefix' => env('SANCTUM_TOKEN_PREFIX', ''),

// Issuing tokens with abilities
$token = $user->createToken('api-token', ['read', 'write'])->plainTextToken;

// Validate abilities on routes
Route::middleware('auth:sanctum')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/orders', function () {
        // User must have 'read' ability
        abort_unless(Auth::user()->tokenCan('read'), 403);
        // ...
    })->middleware('abilities:read');

    Route::post('/orders', function () {
        // User must have 'write' ability
        abort_unless(Auth::user()->tokenCan('write'), 403);
        // ...
    })->middleware('abilities:write');
});

Password Security

// config/hashing.php
// Default is bcrypt. Argon2id is stronger.
'bcrypt' => [
    'rounds' => env('BCRYPT_ROUNDS', 12), // Increase for stronger hashing
],

'argon' => [
    'memory' => 65536,
    'threads' => 4,
    'time' => 4,
],

// Password validation in RegisterRequest
public function rules(): array
{
    return [
        'password' => [
            'required',
            'confirmed',
            Password::min(12)
                ->letters()
                ->mixedCase()
                ->numbers()
                ->symbols()
                ->uncompromised(), // Checks haveibeenpwned
        ],
    ];
}

// Rate limit login attempts
// App\Http\Controllers\Auth\AuthenticatedSessionController
protected function authenticated(Request $request, $user)
{
    if ($user->wasRecentlyLockedOut()) {
        // Notify user of suspicious login
        $user->notify(new SuspiciousLoginNotification($request->ip()));
    }
}

Session Management

// config/session.php

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