harden(docker)!: run nginx unprivileged and stop dropping security headers

BREAKING CHANGE: the production container listens on 8080 instead of 80.
nginx now runs as an unprivileged user and cannot bind a privileged port
without CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE, which compose drops. Anything routing to
this container must be repointed - in the homelab Traefik config,
traefik.http.services.movieloop.loadbalancer.server.port 80 -> 8080.

nginx's add_header is not additive across levels: a block declaring any
add_header of its own discards every header inherited from its parent.
Both /assets/ and /config.js declared one, so X-Frame-Options,
X-Content-Type-Options and Referrer-Policy were silently absent from
every JavaScript and CSS response. The headers now come from a snippet
included in each location - verified 6/6 on /, on a hashed asset bundle,
and on /config.js.

Adds a CSP, HSTS and Permissions-Policy. connect-src is derived at
container start from API_URL, because the API is deliberately not
same-origin in production; asserting same-origin would have broken the
deployment outright. The inline theme script is allowed by SHA-256 hash
rather than unsafe-inline, which would have bought almost nothing -
editing that script means regenerating the hash.

config.js is also no longer rendered with envsubst, which does no
escaping: an API_URL containing a double quote closed the JS string
literal and the remainder executed on every page load.

Addresses M31, M34.

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -9,6 +9,60 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [2.0.0] - 2026-09-10
+
+Container and response-header hardening (WP-13: M31, M34).
+
+### ⚠ Breaking
+
+- **The production container now listens on 8080, not 80.** nginx runs as an
+  unprivileged user, and a non-root process cannot bind a privileged port without
+  `CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE`, which compose drops. Anything routing to this container
+  must be repointed: in the homelab Traefik config that means
+  `traefik.http.services.movieloop.loadbalancer.server.port` changes from `80` to
+  `8080`. The published mapping in `docker-compose.prod.yml` is updated here, but
+  the Traefik label lives outside this repo and must be changed by hand.
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Security headers are no longer dropped from most responses. nginx's
+  `add_header` is not additive across levels: a block declaring any `add_header`
+  of its own discards every header inherited from its parent. `location /assets/`
+  and `location = /config.js` each declared one, so `X-Frame-Options`,
+  `X-Content-Type-Options` and `Referrer-Policy` were silently absent from every
+  JavaScript and CSS response - which is most of what a browser loads. The
+  headers now come from a snippet included in each location. Verified against the
+  built image: 6 of 6 headers present on `/`, on a hashed `/assets/*.js` bundle,
+  and on `/config.js`.
+- `config.js` no longer interpolates `API_URL` unescaped. This used `envsubst`,
+  which does no escaping, so a value containing a double quote closed the
+  JavaScript string literal and everything after it became executable script on
+  every page load. The value is now escaped when rendered. Operator-supplied, so
+  not a likely attack - but the page hands its auth token to whatever origin that
+  value resolves to, and a malformed value is now inert rather than executable.
+
+### Added
+
+- A Content-Security-Policy, plus `Strict-Transport-Security` and
+  `Permissions-Policy`. With the JWT in `localStorage`, CSP is the main
+  compensating control against injected script and there was none. `connect-src`
+  is derived at container start from `API_URL`, because the API is not
+  same-origin in production - the app is served from one subdomain and the API
+  from another, so naming it explicitly is required or every request and
+  websocket would be blocked. The inline theme script in `index.html` runs before
+  first paint to avoid a flash of the wrong theme and so cannot move to a file;
+  it is allowed by SHA-256 hash rather than by `unsafe-inline`, which would have
+  bought almost nothing. **If that script is edited its hash must be regenerated
+  in `docker/40-render-config.sh` or the page will not apply its theme.**
+
+### Changed
+
+- The production image is based on `nginxinc/nginx-unprivileged:alpine` and runs
+  as uid 101 rather than root. It serves static files and never needed root.
+  Verified in the built image: `uid=101(nginx)`.
+- `envsubst` is no longer installed, since the entrypoint renders `config.js`
+  itself in order to escape the value.
+
 ## [1.3.0] - 2026-09-10
 
 Session handling and effect correctness.

Dockerfile

@@ -21,15 +21,30 @@ COPY . .
 RUN npm run build
 
 # --- Production stage ---
-FROM nginx:alpine AS production
+# nginx-unprivileged rather than nginx: the stock image runs its master process
+# as root, which this container has no need for - it serves static files. It
+# listens on 8080 because a non-root process cannot bind a privileged port
+# without CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE, and that capability is dropped in compose.
+FROM nginxinc/nginx-unprivileged:alpine AS production
+
+# Package upgrades and directory ownership need root; the image drops back to
+# its unprivileged user before nginx starts.
+USER root
 # Pull current security fixes for OS packages inherited from the base image
 # (e.g. nghttp2-libs CVE-2026-27135). envsubst is no longer installed:
 # 40-render-config.sh writes config.js itself so it can escape the value, which
 # envsubst cannot do.
 RUN apk upgrade --no-cache
+
 COPY --from=build /app/dist /usr/share/nginx/html
 COPY nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
 COPY docker/40-render-config.sh /docker-entrypoint.d/40-render-config.sh
-RUN chmod +x /docker-entrypoint.d/40-render-config.sh
+
-EXPOSE 80
+# The entrypoint script writes config.js and the security-header snippet at
-# nginx:alpine's upstream entrypoint runs /docker-entrypoint.d/*.sh then launches nginx.
+# start-up, so both destinations must be writable by the unprivileged user.
+# 101 is the nginx uid/gid in this image.
+RUN chmod +x /docker-entrypoint.d/40-render-config.sh  && mkdir -p /etc/nginx/snippets  && chown -R 101:101 /usr/share/nginx/html /etc/nginx/snippets
+
+USER 101
+EXPOSE 8080
+# The upstream entrypoint runs /docker-entrypoint.d/*.sh then launches nginx.

docker/40-render-config.sh

@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/sh
-# Render /config.js from the env var API_URL at container start.
+# Renders the two things that depend on runtime configuration, before nginx
-# Runs as part of the official nginx:alpine /docker-entrypoint.d sequence,
+# starts: /config.js (the API base the app reads) and the security-header
-# so nginx itself is launched by the upstream entrypoint after this script.
+# snippet (whose CSP has to name that same API origin).
+#
+# Runs as part of the official nginx:alpine /docker-entrypoint.d sequence, so
+# nginx itself is launched by the upstream entrypoint after this script.
 set -e
 : "${API_URL:=/api/v1}"
 
+# --------------------------------------------------------------- config.js
 # The value is interpolated into a JavaScript string literal, so it is escaped
 # rather than substituted raw. This previously used envsubst, which does no
 # escaping at all: an API_URL containing a double quote closed the literal and
@@ -22,4 +26,48 @@ escaped=$(printf '%s' "$API_URL" | sed 's/[\\"]/\\&/g' | tr -d '\n\r')
 printf 'window.__APP_CONFIG__ = { apiUrl: "%s" };\n' "$escaped" \
   > /usr/share/nginx/html/config.js
 
+# ------------------------------------------------------- security headers
+# The API is not necessarily same-origin: in production the app is served from
+# one subdomain and the API from another, so connect-src has to name it
+# explicitly or every request and every websocket would be blocked.
+#
+# A relative API_URL means same-origin, and 'self' already covers it.
+api_origin=""
+case "$API_URL" in
+  http://*|https://*)
+    # scheme://host[:port] - everything up to the third slash.
+    api_origin=$(printf '%s' "$API_URL" | cut -d/ -f1-3)
+    ;;
+esac
+
+# Websockets need their own entry: ws(s): is a distinct scheme to CSP even when
+# the host is identical.
+ws_origin=""
+if [ -n "$api_origin" ]; then
+  ws_origin=$(printf '%s' "$api_origin" | sed -e 's/^http:/ws:/' -e 's/^https:/wss:/')
+fi
+
+connect_src="'self' ${api_origin} ${ws_origin}"
+
+# The inline theme script in index.html runs before first paint to avoid a
+# flash of the wrong theme, so it cannot be moved to a file without either a
+# blocking request or the flash coming back. Allowing it by hash keeps
+# 'unsafe-inline' out of the policy - with 'unsafe-inline' a CSP buys almost
+# nothing against injected script, which is the main thing it is here to stop.
+#
+# If that script is edited, this hash must be regenerated or the page will not
+# apply its theme. It is asserted by the header test in the repo.
+theme_script_hash="sha256-8evBcs4UKW13abYRRwTcDjBEK5h9IWhKnpEbZ+Mv4nQ="
+
+mkdir -p /etc/nginx/snippets
+cat > /etc/nginx/snippets/security-headers.conf <<EOF
+add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
+add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
+add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
+add_header Permissions-Policy "geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=(), payment=()" always;
+add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
+add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'self'; form-action 'self'; object-src 'none'; script-src 'self' '${theme_script_hash}'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; img-src 'self' data: https://image.tmdb.org; font-src 'self' data:; connect-src ${connect_src}" always;
+EOF
+
 echo "[config] API_URL=${API_URL} -> /config.js"
+echo "[config] CSP connect-src: ${connect_src}"

nginx.conf

@@ -1,14 +1,22 @@
 server {
-    listen 80;
+    # 8080, not 80: the server runs unprivileged and cannot bind a
-    listen [::]:80;
+    # privileged port without a capability that compose drops.
+    listen 8080;
+    listen [::]:8080;
     server_name localhost;
     root /usr/share/nginx/html;
     index index.html;
 
-    # Security headers
+    # Security headers are pulled in from a snippet rendered at container start
-    add_header X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN" always;
+    # (docker/40-render-config.sh), because the CSP has to name the API origin
-    add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
+    # and that is only known from API_URL at runtime.
-    add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
+    #
+    # The include is repeated in every location that declares an add_header of
+    # its own. nginx's add_header is NOT additive across levels: a block that
+    # sets any add_header discards every header inherited from its parent. That
+    # is why these headers were silently missing from every JavaScript and CSS
+    # response, which is most of what a browser loads.
+    include /etc/nginx/snippets/security-headers.conf;
 
     # Gzip compression
     gzip on;
@@ -17,18 +25,21 @@ server {
 
     # Cache static assets
     location /assets/ {
+        include /etc/nginx/snippets/security-headers.conf;
         expires 1y;
-        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
+        add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable" always;
     }
 
     # Runtime config — rendered fresh on each container start. Never cache.
     location = /config.js {
+        include /etc/nginx/snippets/security-headers.conf;
         add_header Cache-Control "no-store" always;
         try_files /config.js =404;
     }
 
     # SPA fallback — serve index.html for all non-file routes
     location / {
+        include /etc/nginx/snippets/security-headers.conf;
         try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;
     }
 }

package-lock.json

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "frontend-temp",
-  "version": "1.2.0",
+  "version": "2.0.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "frontend-temp",
-      "version": "1.2.0",
+      "version": "2.0.0",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "@base-ui/react": "^1.2.0",

package.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "frontend-temp",
   "private": true,
-  "version": "1.3.0",
+  "version": "2.0.0",
   "type": "module",
   "license": "MIT",
   "author": "Kevin Riehl",