Agent skill

django-access-review

Django access control and IDOR security review. Use when reviewing Django views, DRF viewsets, ORM queries, or any Python/Django code handling user authorization. Trigger keywords: "IDOR", "access control", "authorization", "Django permissions", "object permissions", "tenant isolation", "broken access".

Stars 494
Forks 18

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/getsentry/skills/tree/main/plugins/sentry-skills/skills/django-access-review

SKILL.md

Django Access Control & IDOR Review

Find access control vulnerabilities by investigating how the codebase answers one question:

Can User A access, modify, or delete User B's data?

Philosophy: Investigation Over Pattern Matching

Do NOT scan for predefined vulnerable patterns. Instead:

  1. Understand how authorization works in THIS codebase
  2. Ask questions about specific data flows
  3. Trace code to find where (or if) access checks happen
  4. Report only what you've confirmed through investigation

Every codebase implements authorization differently. Your job is to understand this specific implementation, then find gaps.


Phase 1: Understand the Authorization Model

Before looking for bugs, answer these questions about the codebase:

How is authorization enforced?

Research the codebase to find:

□ Where are permission checks implemented?
  - Decorators? (@login_required, @permission_required, custom?)
  - Middleware? (TenantMiddleware, AuthorizationMiddleware?)
  - Base classes? (BaseAPIView, TenantScopedViewSet?)
  - Permission classes? (DRF permission_classes?)
  - Custom mixins? (OwnershipMixin, TenantMixin?)

□ How are queries scoped?
  - Custom managers? (TenantManager, UserScopedManager?)
  - get_queryset() overrides?
  - Middleware that sets query context?

□ What's the ownership model?
  - Single user ownership? (document.owner_id)
  - Organization/tenant ownership? (document.organization_id)
  - Hierarchical? (org -> team -> user -> resource)
  - Role-based within context? (org admin vs member)

Investigation commands

bash
# Find how auth is typically done
grep -rn "permission_classes\|@login_required\|@permission_required" --include="*.py" | head -20

# Find base classes that views inherit from
grep -rn "class Base.*View\|class.*Mixin.*:" --include="*.py" | head -20

# Find custom managers
grep -rn "class.*Manager\|def get_queryset" --include="*.py" | head -20

# Find ownership fields on models
grep -rn "owner\|user_id\|organization\|tenant" --include="models.py" | head -30

Do not proceed until you understand the authorization model.


Phase 2: Map the Attack Surface

Identify endpoints that handle user-specific data:

What resources exist?

□ What models contain user data?
□ Which have ownership fields (owner_id, user_id, organization_id)?
□ Which are accessed via ID in URLs or request bodies?

What operations are exposed?

For each resource, map:

  • List endpoints - what data is returned?
  • Detail/retrieve endpoints - how is the object fetched?
  • Create endpoints - who sets the owner?
  • Update endpoints - can users modify others' data?
  • Delete endpoints - can users delete others' data?
  • Custom actions - what do they access?

Phase 3: Ask Questions and Investigate

For each endpoint that handles user data, ask:

The Core Question

"If I'm User A and I know the ID of User B's resource, can I access it?"

Trace the code to answer this:

1. Where does the resource ID enter the system?
   - URL path: /api/documents/{id}/
   - Query param: ?document_id=123
   - Request body: {"document_id": 123}

2. Where is that ID used to fetch data?
   - Find the ORM query or database call

3. Between (1) and (2), what checks exist?
   - Is the query scoped to current user?
   - Is there an explicit ownership check?
   - Is there a permission check on the object?
   - Does a base class or mixin enforce access?

4. If you can't find a check, is there one you missed?
   - Check parent classes
   - Check middleware
   - Check managers
   - Check decorators at URL level

Follow-Up Questions

□ For list endpoints: Does the query filter to user's data, or return everything?

□ For create endpoints: Who sets the owner - the server or the request?

□ For bulk operations: Are they scoped to user's data?

□ For related resources: If I can access a document, can I access its comments?
  What if the document belongs to someone else?

□ For tenant/org resources: Can User in Org A access Org B's data by changing
  the org_id in the URL?

Phase 4: Trace Specific Flows

Pick a concrete endpoint and trace it completely.

Example Investigation

Endpoint: GET /api/documents/{pk}/

1. Find the view handling this URL
   → DocumentViewSet.retrieve() in api/views.py

2. Check what DocumentViewSet inherits from
   → class DocumentViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet)
   → No custom base class with authorization

3. Check permission_classes
   → permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated]
   → Only checks login, not ownership

4. Check get_queryset()
   → def get_queryset(self):
   →     return Document.objects.all()
   → Returns ALL documents!

5. Check for has_object_permission()
   → Not implemented

6. Check retrieve() method
   → Uses default, which calls get_object()
   → get_object() uses get_queryset(), which returns all

7. Conclusion: IDOR - Any authenticated user can access any document

What to look for when tracing

Potential gap indicators (investigate further, don't auto-flag):
- get_queryset() returns .all() or filters without user
- Direct Model.objects.get(pk=pk) without ownership in query
- ID comes from request body for sensitive operations
- Permission class checks auth but not ownership
- No has_object_permission() and queryset isn't scoped

Likely safe patterns (but verify the implementation):
- get_queryset() filters by request.user or user's org
- Custom permission class with has_object_permission()
- Base class that enforces scoping
- Manager that auto-filters

Phase 5: Report Findings

Only report issues you've confirmed through investigation.

Confidence Levels

Level Meaning Action
HIGH Traced the flow, confirmed no check exists Report with evidence
MEDIUM Check may exist but couldn't confirm Note for manual verification
LOW Theoretical, likely mitigated Do not report

Suggested Fixes Must Enforce, Not Document

Bad fix: Adding a comment saying "caller must validate permissions" Good fix: Adding code that actually validates permissions

A comment or docstring does not enforce authorization. Your suggested fix must include actual code that:

  • Validates the user has permission before proceeding
  • Raises an exception or returns an error if unauthorized
  • Makes unauthorized access impossible, not just discouraged

Example of a BAD fix suggestion:

python
def get_resource(resource_id):
    # IMPORTANT: Caller must ensure user has access to this resource
    return Resource.objects.get(pk=resource_id)

Example of a GOOD fix suggestion:

python
def get_resource(resource_id, user):
    resource = Resource.objects.get(pk=resource_id)
    if resource.owner_id != user.id:
        raise PermissionDenied("Access denied")
    return resource

If you can't determine the right enforcement mechanism, say so - but never suggest documentation as the fix.

Report Format

markdown
## Access Control Review: [Component]

### Authorization Model
[Brief description of how this codebase handles authorization]

### Findings

#### [IDOR-001] [Title] (Severity: High/Medium)
- **Location**: `path/to/file.py:123`
- **Confidence**: High - confirmed through code tracing
- **The Question**: Can User A access User B's documents?
- **Investigation**:
  1. Traced GET /api/documents/{pk}/ to DocumentViewSet
  2. Checked get_queryset() - returns Document.objects.all()
  3. Checked permission_classes - only IsAuthenticated
  4. Checked for has_object_permission() - not implemented
  5. Verified no relevant middleware or base class checks
- **Evidence**: [Code snippet showing the gap]
- **Impact**: Any authenticated user can read any document by ID
- **Suggested Fix**: [Code that enforces authorization - NOT a comment]

### Needs Manual Verification
[Issues where authorization exists but couldn't confirm effectiveness]

### Areas Not Reviewed
[Endpoints or flows not covered in this review]

Common Django Authorization Patterns

These are patterns you might find - not a checklist to match against.

Query Scoping

python
# Scoped to user
Document.objects.filter(owner=request.user)

# Scoped to organization
Document.objects.filter(organization=request.user.organization)

# Using a custom manager
Document.objects.for_user(request.user)  # Investigate what this does

Permission Enforcement

python
# DRF permission classes
permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated, IsOwner]

# Custom has_object_permission
def has_object_permission(self, request, view, obj):
    return obj.owner == request.user

# Django decorators
@permission_required('app.view_document')

# Manual checks
if document.owner != request.user:
    raise PermissionDenied()

Ownership Assignment

python
# Server-side (safe)
def perform_create(self, serializer):
    serializer.save(owner=self.request.user)

# From request (investigate)
serializer.save(**request.data)  # Does request.data include owner?

Investigation Checklist

Use this to guide your review, not as a pass/fail checklist:

□ I understand how authorization is typically implemented in this codebase
□ I've identified the ownership model (user, org, tenant, etc.)
□ I've mapped the key endpoints that handle user data
□ For each sensitive endpoint, I've traced the flow and asked:
  - Where does the ID come from?
  - Where is data fetched?
  - What checks exist between input and data access?
□ I've verified my findings by checking parent classes and middleware
□ I've only reported issues I've confirmed through investigation

Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.

getsentry/skills

doc-coauthoring

Guide users through a structured workflow for co-authoring documentation. Use when user wants to write documentation, proposals, technical specs, decision docs, or similar structured content. This workflow helps users efficiently transfer context, refine content through iteration, and verify the doc works for readers. Trigger when user mentions writing docs, creating proposals, drafting specs, or similar documentation tasks.

494 18
Explore
getsentry/skills

gha-security-review

GitHub Actions security review for workflow exploitation vulnerabilities. Use when asked to "review GitHub Actions", "audit workflows", "check CI security", "GHA security", "workflow security review", or review .github/workflows/ for pwn requests, expression injection, credential theft, and supply chain attacks. Exploitation-focused with concrete PoC scenarios.

494 18
Explore
getsentry/skills

commit

ALWAYS use this skill when committing code changes — never commit directly without it. Creates commits following Sentry conventions with proper conventional commit format and issue references. Trigger on any commit, git commit, save changes, or commit message task.

494 18
Explore
getsentry/skills

blog-writing-guide

Write, review, and improve blog posts for the Sentry engineering blog following Sentry's specific writing standards, voice, and quality bar. Use this skill whenever someone asks to write a blog post, draft a technical article, review blog content, improve a draft, write a product announcement, create an engineering deep-dive, or produce any written content destined for the Sentry blog or developer audience. Also trigger when the user mentions "blog post," "blog draft," "write-up," "announcement post," "engineering post," "deep dive," "postmortem," or asks for help with technical writing for Sentry. Even if the user just says "help me write about [feature/topic]" — if it sounds like it could become a Sentry blog post, use this skill.

494 18
Explore
getsentry/skills

pr-writer

ALWAYS use this skill when creating or updating pull requests — never create or edit a PR directly without it. Follows Sentry conventions for PR titles, descriptions, and issue references. Trigger on any create PR, open PR, submit PR, make PR, update PR title, update PR description, edit PR, push and create PR, prepare changes for review task, or request for a PR writer.

494 18
Explore
getsentry/skills

claude-settings-audit

Analyze a repository to generate recommended Claude Code settings.json permissions. Use when setting up a new project, auditing existing settings, or determining which read-only bash commands to allow. Detects tech stack, build tools, and monorepo structure.

494 18
Explore

Didn't find tool you were looking for?

Be as detailed as possible for better results