/threat-model — STRIDE Threat Modelling

Deep-dive security analysis using the STRIDE framework. Produces a prioritized threat catalogue with mitigations. This is the expert companion to /launch-check's security row — invoke it when security shows WARN or FAIL, or proactively before any launch.

Consumes the DFD produced by /dfd. The Data Flow Diagram at projects/<project>/architecture/dfd.md is the source of truth; this skill iterates its trust-boundary crossings rather than rebuilding its own data-flow view. If the DFD doesn't exist, this skill OFFERS to run /dfd first (see Step 1). See AgDR-0026 for the single-source-of-truth rationale.

LSP-aware (optional, recommended)

This skill performs semantic code navigation — finding definitions, walking references, tracing handlers across modules. With LSP enabled (ENABLE_LSP_TOOL=1 + per-language plugin per docs/getting-started.md), queries are ~3-15× cheaper in token cost than grep + Read on shallow lookups, and ~1.4-5× cheaper on multi-hop traces. Without LSP, the skill falls back to grep + Read transparently — no new failure mode, just optional speed.

Per-language LSP plugins live in Claude Code's marketplace. Install once; the skill detects the active language and dispatches automatically.

Usage

/threat-model                                # default: markdown only (unchanged)
/threat-model --format=markdown              # explicit markdown only
/threat-model --format=dragon                # OWASP Threat Dragon v2 JSON only
/threat-model --format=both                  # both markdown AND Threat Dragon JSON
/threat-model workspace/example-app --format=both

Flag	Effect
(none)	Persist the markdown catalogue via _lib-audit-history.sh (default). Backwards-compatible.
--format=markdown	Same as default — explicit form.
--format=dragon	Skip the markdown body; emit only <output-dir>/threat-model.json in OWASP Threat Dragon v2 schema. JSON still flows through _lib-audit-history.sh for findings persistence (the lib's per-run JSON is unrelated to the Dragon export).
--format=both	Emit markdown AND <output-dir>/threat-model.json. Recommended when you want PR-reviewable markdown AND a Dragon-openable file.

The Threat Dragon export is implemented by serialize_dragon.py (sibling to this SKILL.md). It reads a small structured-input file the skill builds during Step 1–2 (entities + flows + boundaries + threats) and writes a Threat Dragon v2 JSON document that opens directly in OWASP Threat Dragon (desktop or web). Format-choice rationale: docs/agdr/AgDR-0024-threat-dragon-export.md.

Worked example (--format=dragon)

/threat-model workspace/example-app --format=dragon

After the STRIDE walk produces the entities + flows + threats, the skill emits:

projects/example-app/audits/threat-model/threat-model.json

Open the JSON in Threat Dragon (File → Open Existing Threat Model). Dragon's auto-arrange (toolbar) re-flows the auto-grid layout into a tidier view — the grid is just a sane starting state. STRIDE findings appear pinned to their parent shapes; click any shape's threat tab to edit them visually.

STRIDE Categories

Category	Question	What to look for
Spoofing	Can an attacker pretend to be someone else?	Auth implementation, session management, token validation, API key handling
Tampering	Can data be modified in transit or at rest?	Input validation, CSRF protection, data integrity checks, signed tokens
Repudiation	Can actions be denied after the fact?	Audit logging, action trails, non-repudiation mechanisms
Information Disclosure	Can sensitive data leak?	Error messages, logs, API responses, hardcoded secrets, .env exposure, debug mode
Denial of Service	Can the system be overwhelmed?	Rate limiting, input size limits, resource exhaustion, recursive queries
Elevation of Privilege	Can a user gain unauthorized access?	Role checks, admin routes, authorization middleware, IDOR vulnerabilities

Process

Step 1: Read the DFD (source of truth) — refuse if absent

The DFD is produced by /dfd and lives at projects/<project>/architecture/dfd.md — this is the source of truth. This skill consumes it; it does NOT regenerate it. The STRIDE walk in Step 2 iterates the DFD's trust-boundary crossings (the table in dfd.md § "Trust boundaries") rather than inventing threats ad-hoc.

source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-read-config.sh"
source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-portfolio-paths.sh"
projects_dir=$(portfolio_projects_dir)

dfd="${projects_dir}/${project_name}/architecture/dfd.md"
if [ ! -f "$dfd" ]; then
  cat >&2 <<MSG
BLOCKED: /threat-model requires a DFD at $dfd.

A STRIDE walk without a DFD is reactive — threats get invented per
entry point rather than enumerated per trust-boundary crossing. Worse,
without a DFD snapshot inlined at audit time, future readers can't tell
which architecture the threat model was enumerated against (#270).

Run /dfd ${project_name} first to produce the canonical DFD, then
re-run /threat-model.
MSG
  exit 1
fi

Refusal (not fallback) is deliberate (#270). The audit artefact embeds a DFD snapshot at audit time so the threat model remains internally consistent after the live DFD evolves. A threat model authored without a DFD has no anchor; the legacy "inline discovery" fallback that preceded #270 silently produced low-quality artefacts whose threats couldn't be re-validated later. Better to fail fast.

The DFD's structured elements feed Step 2:

• Entry points — every external actor → process arrow in the DFD is an entry point
• Data stores — every store node in the DFD
• External integrations — every external-service actor in the DFD
• Trust boundaries — every dashed subgraph border in the DFD; the per-boundary auth + classification table in dfd.md is the STRIDE worksheet

Step 1b: Extract DFD sections for snapshot inlining

The threat-model audit output will inline three sections from dfd.md so the artefact is self-contained. Extract them now into separate variables so they can be embedded in the Step 5b body:

# Extract the ```mermaid ... ``` fenced block under `## Diagram`
dfd_mermaid=$(awk '
  /^## Diagram/        { in_diagram = 1; next }
  /^## /               { if (in_diagram) exit }
  in_diagram           { print }
' "$dfd")

# Extract the `## Trust boundaries` section (heading + body, up to next `## `)
dfd_trust=$(awk '
  /^## Trust boundaries/  { capture = 1 }
  /^## / && !/^## Trust/  { if (capture && NR > 1) exit }
  capture                 { print }
' "$dfd")

# Extract the `## Data classifications` section
dfd_classifications=$(awk '
  /^## Data classifications/ { capture = 1 }
  /^## / && !/^## Data classifications/ { if (capture && NR > 1) exit }
  capture                    { print }
' "$dfd")

# Discovery provenance is intentionally NOT extracted — too noisy for an
# audit snapshot. Readers click through to the live DFD for that.

dfd_captured_at=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%d")

These three blocks become the ## DFD (snapshot as of YYYY-MM-DD) section at the top of the audit body in Step 5b.

Step 2: Apply STRIDE to each entry point

For each entry point, ask all 6 STRIDE questions. Record findings by severity:

Severity	Meaning	Action
CRITICAL	Exploitable now, data at risk	Fix before launch, no exceptions
HIGH	Likely exploitable, significant impact	Fix before launch
MEDIUM	Possible exploit, moderate impact	Fix in next sprint
LOW	Theoretical risk, minimal impact	Track, fix when convenient

Step 3: Output the threat catalogue

THREAT MODEL — <project> @ <sha>

Attack surface: <N> entry points, <N> data stores, <N> external integrations

| # | Category | Threat | Severity | Entry point | Mitigation |
|----|----------|--------|----------|-------------|------------|
| T1 | Spoofing | No rate limit on login | HIGH | POST /auth/login | Add rate limiter (5/min/IP) |
| T2 | Info Disc | API returns stack traces in prod | MEDIUM | Global error handler | Strip stack traces when NODE_ENV=production |
| T3 | Tampering | No CSRF token on state-changing forms | HIGH | POST /settings | Add CSRF middleware |
| ...| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

Summary: <N> threats found (<N> critical, <N> high, <N> medium, <N> low)

Recommended priority:
  1. [ ] T1 — rate limit on login (HIGH, easy fix)
  2. [ ] T3 — CSRF protection (HIGH, middleware addition)
  3. [ ] T2 — strip stack traces (MEDIUM, config change)

Step 4: Check common OWASP patterns

After the STRIDE sweep, explicitly check for:

• SQL/NoSQL injection (parameterized queries? ORM used consistently?)
• XSS (dangerouslySetInnerHTML, v-html, template literals in HTML?)
• Insecure deserialization (JSON.parse on untrusted input without validation?)
• Security misconfiguration (CORS *, debug mode, default credentials?)
• Using components with known vulnerabilities (npm audit / pip audit)

Step 5: Persist the run + render trend

After printing the human-readable catalogue (Step 3) and OWASP check (Step 4), persist a structured artefact via the shared audit-history lib so the threat-model trend across runs becomes legible. See docs/agdr/AgDR-0019-audit-artefact-persistence.md for the schema rationale.

5a. Resolve project name + score + verdict

<project-name> is the project's registered name in apexyard.projects.yaml. If the project isn't registered, use the basename of the project path and tell the operator to /handover it for cross-machine trend continuity.

Compute a single headline score from the severity distribution:

score = max(0, 100 - 25*critical - 10*high - 3*medium - 1*low)

Compute the verdict by the worst-severity rule:

Worst severity present	Verdict
critical or high	fail
medium only	conditional
low only / none	pass

5b. Build payload + body, persist via the lib

source "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/hooks/_lib-audit-history.sh"

# Lowercase severity in the payload — the lib's stats derivation expects
# critical / high / medium / low / info. The visible catalogue from Step 3
# can keep whatever capitalisation reads best.
payload=$(mktemp); cat > "$payload" <<'EOF'
{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "findings": [
    {"id": "T1", "severity": "high",   "status": "open", "summary": "No rate limit on /auth/login"},
    {"id": "T2", "severity": "medium", "status": "open", "summary": "Stack traces in prod errors"},
    {"id": "T3", "severity": "high",   "status": "open", "summary": "No CSRF on state-changing forms"}
  ]
}
EOF

# Body = DFD snapshot + catalogue + OWASP cross-check (per templates/audits/threat-model.md).
# The DFD snapshot (#270) sits at the top so readers see the architecture
# this threat model was enumerated against BEFORE the threats themselves.
# Use a heredoc-with-expansion (no quotes around 'EOF') so the captured
# variables from Step 1b interpolate.
body=$(mktemp); cat > "$body" <<EOF
## DFD (snapshot as of ${dfd_captured_at})

> **Point-in-time capture.** This is the DFD as it was when this threat model
> was enumerated. The live DFD evolves at \`${dfd}\` — re-run \`/threat-model\`
> to refresh against current architecture. Future runs of this audit will
> snapshot the DFD as-it-was-then, not as-it-is-now.

\`\`\`mermaid
${dfd_mermaid}\`\`\`

${dfd_trust}

${dfd_classifications}

---

## Attack surface

3 entry points, 1 data store, 0 external integrations.

## Threats by STRIDE category

| # | Category | Threat | Severity | Entry point | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Spoofing | No rate limit on /auth/login | high | POST /auth/login | Add rate limiter (5/min/IP) |
| T2 | Info Disclosure | Stack traces in prod errors | medium | Global error handler | Strip when NODE_ENV=production |
| T3 | Tampering | No CSRF on state-changing forms | high | POST /settings | Add CSRF middleware |

## Recommended priority

1. T1 — rate limit on /auth/login
2. T3 — CSRF middleware
3. T2 — strip stack traces

## OWASP cross-check

(... per Step 4 results ...)
EOF

ts=$(date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ")
audit_run_persist "<project-name>" "threat-model" "$ts" "fail" 65 "$body" < "$payload"
rm -f "$payload" "$body"

After persistence, lint the inlined Mermaid (#266) to catch any DFD-syntax breakage that would render badly on GitHub:

# The audit_run_persist writes to projects/<name>/audits/threat-model/<ts>.md.
# Resolve the path the lib used and run the shared Mermaid lint.
audit_md="$(audit_resolve_dir "<project-name>" "threat-model")/${ts//:/}.md"
ops_root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
"$ops_root/.claude/skills/_lib-mermaid-lint.sh" "$audit_md" || lint_rc=$?

Exit 1 (parse error in the snapshotted block) → the DFD itself has broken Mermaid; surface that and ask the operator to fix the live DFD before re-running. Exit 3 (Node missing) → one-line warning, proceed. The snapshot's lint passes whenever the live DFD's lint passes — same parser, same input.

5c. Render the trend section

audit_render_trend "<project-name>" "threat-model" 5

• < 2 prior runs → silent (no trend section). Don't append anything.
• ≥ 2 prior runs → prints a markdown trend block (heading + table + ASCII chart of score over time) to stdout. Append it to this run's MD artefact and to the chat output.

Step 6: Emit Threat Dragon JSON (only if --format=dragon or --format=both)

When --format=dragon or --format=both is set, build a structured-input YAML (or JSON — either is accepted by the serialiser) from the DFD + STRIDE catalogue, then invoke serialize_dragon.py.

Structured-input schema (see fixtures/sample-input.yaml for a worked example):

Top-level key	Type	Purpose
title	string	Becomes summary.title (required by Threat Dragon schema).
description	string	Optional summary.description.
owner	string	Optional summary.owner.
contributors	list[string]	Becomes detail.contributors[].
reviewer	string	Optional detail.reviewer.
actors	list[{id, name}]	External entities → shape: actor.
processes	list[{id, name}]	Processes → shape: process.
stores	list[{id, name}]	Data stores → shape: store.
boundaries	list[{id, name, children: [id, ...]}]	Trust boundaries → shape: trust-boundary-box wrapping their children with a 40px margin.
flows	list[{id, source, target, label}]	Data flows → shape: flow with source.cell / target.cell UUIDs.
threats	list[{parent, type, severity, title, description, mitigation}]	STRIDE findings → attached to the parent entity's data.threats[].

Severity vocabulary in the input matches the rest of the skill (lowercase critical / high / medium / low / info); the serialiser maps it into Dragon's High / Medium / Low enum. STRIDE type is one of Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege (the canonical labels Dragon uses; common shortenings like info disc, DoS, EoP are accepted and normalised).

6a. Resolve the output path

out_dir=$(audit_resolve_dir "<project-name>" "threat-model")
dragon_path="$out_dir/threat-model.json"

$out_dir is the same per-project audit dir Step 5 writes to. The Dragon JSON sits alongside the per-run JSON + per-run MD; one Dragon export per project at a time (overwritten on subsequent runs). Operators who want to keep historic Dragon exports for diffing should rename them by hand — the markdown trend in Step 5c is the supported way to track findings over time.

6b. Build the structured input and invoke the serialiser

Write the structured input to a temp file, then invoke serialize_dragon.py:

input=$(mktemp --suffix=.yaml)
cat > "$input" <<'YAML'
title: "Example Web Application"
description: "Threat model run on 2026-05-16, commit <sha>."
owner: "Security Team"
contributors: ["Alice", "Bob"]
reviewer: "Carol"

actors:
  - { id: user, name: "External user" }

processes:
  - { id: web, name: "Web frontend" }
  - { id: api, name: "API service" }

stores:
  - { id: db, name: "Primary data store" }

boundaries:
  - { id: internet, name: "Public internet", children: [web] }
  - { id: backend,  name: "Backend network", children: [api, db] }

flows:
  - { id: f1, source: user, target: web, label: "credentials" }
  - { id: f2, source: web,  target: api, label: "auth token, user PII" }
  - { id: f3, source: api,  target: db,  label: "user PII, transaction" }

threats:
  - parent: api
    type: "Spoofing"
    severity: "high"
    title: "No rate limit on /auth/login"
    description: "Attacker can brute-force login credentials."
    mitigation: "Add a rate limiter (5/min/IP) at the API gateway."
YAML

python3 "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/.claude/skills/threat-model/serialize_dragon.py" \
  "$input" --out "$dragon_path"
rm -f "$input"

6c. Tell the operator what was written

After the file is written, surface it in the chat output so the operator knows where to find it:

Threat Dragon v2 JSON written to: <dragon_path>
Open in https://www.threatdragon.com or the OWASP Threat Dragon desktop app.
Dragon's auto-arrange (toolbar) re-flows the auto-grid layout on first open.

6d. Layout note

The serialiser uses an auto-grid layout (actors row at y=0, processes at y=200, stores at y=400; x-spaced 200px). Trust-boundary boxes wrap their children with a 40px margin. This is a sane starting state — Threat Dragon's own auto-arrange button re-flows the diagram into a tidier view on first open. Hand-authored coordinates are out of scope for v1 (see AgDR-0024 § "Auto-grid layout decision").

5d. Opt-in commit (history-tracked marker)

By default the dimension's runs/ JSON files are gitignored — most adopters don't want audit history bloat in the repo. The lib applies a .gitignore based on the presence of the marker:

# Opt in to commit threat-model history (per-project, per-dimension)
touch projects/<name>/audits/threat-model/.audit-history-tracked

The lib re-evaluates the marker on every persist; the operator can toggle freely. The MD artefacts at <dim_dir>/<ts>.md are committed regardless — they are the durable human-readable artefact.

Rules

1. Lead with the summary table. Details (code snippets, exploit scenarios) go AFTER the table, organized by severity.
2. Be specific about mitigations. "Add auth" is not a mitigation. "Add JWT verification middleware to routes /api/admin/* using the existing authMiddleware.ts" is.
3. Don't cry wolf. Only flag threats that are realistic for this codebase. A static site doesn't need CSRF protection.
4. Adapt scope to project type. API-only? Focus on auth, input validation, rate limiting. Full-stack? Add XSS, CSRF, cookie security. Library? Focus on supply chain and input handling.
5. Always persist. Step 5 always writes a JSON + MD pair via audit_run_persist, regardless of opt-in commit state. The marker only controls whether the JSON is committed; persistence is unconditional so the trend is visible across runs.
6. Severity vocabulary in the JSON is lowercase. The lib's stats.by_severity derivation expects critical / high / medium / low / info. The human-readable Step 3 table can use whatever capitalisation reads best.
7. Default output is unchanged. --format=dragon and --format=both are opt-in; the markdown-only path stays default so existing adopters see no behaviour change. See AgDR-0024 for the format-choice rationale.
8. No DFD → no threat model (#270). Refuse rather than fall back to inline discovery. A threat model that wasn't enumerated against a DFD has no point-in-time anchor; future readers can't replay the analysis. The fail-fast behaviour is mechanical (Step 1 exit 1), not advisory.
9. DFD snapshot is by copy, not by link. The audit artefact embeds the DFD's Mermaid block + Trust-boundaries table + Data-classifications table inline. This is deliberate (#270) — linking would couple the rendering of historical threat models to whatever the live DFD says today, defeating the audit's point-in-time guarantee. Re-run /threat-model to refresh the snapshot.
10. Discovery provenance is excluded from the snapshot. The live DFD's ## Discovery provenance section (raw axis-by-axis evidence) is too noisy for an audit artefact. Readers click through to the live DFD if they need the provenance trail.

Anti-patterns

• Don't link to the live DFD. Inline copy at audit time. The whole point of the snapshot is that the threat model survives later DFD edits without rotting.
• Don't fall back to "inline discovery" when the DFD is missing. That was the pre-#270 behaviour; it produced low-quality artefacts that couldn't be re-validated later. Refuse instead.
• Don't extract from dfd.md programmatically beyond the three sections named in Step 1b. The contract is: Mermaid block + trust boundaries + classifications. Adding more (e.g. provenance) bloats the artefact; adding less breaks the audit's self-containment.
• Don't skip the Mermaid lint after persistence. If the live DFD has broken Mermaid, the snapshot inherits it. Surfacing that here is cheaper than discovering it on GitHub.

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Part of ApexYard — multi-project SDLC framework for Claude Code · MIT.