Security

Security — Authentication, MFA & IT Best Practices

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Tesla Carview handles sensitive data: vehicle location, charging history, and control commands to your car. This page covers how it's secured and what you should do to keep your installation safe.

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Login options

1. Username + Password (standard)

• Password is hashed with bcrypt (cost factor 12)
• Failed logins are rate-limited: after 5 failed attempts, the account is locked for 15 minutes
• All login events are recorded in the audit log

Good password practices:

• Use a passphrase: Sonne-Berg-Auto-Kaffee (4+ words, easy to remember, hard to crack)
• Minimum 12 characters — longer is better
• Don't reuse passwords from other services
• Use a password manager (Bitwarden, 1Password, KeePass)

2. Passkeys (passwordless, recommended)

Passkeys use your device's biometrics (fingerprint, Face ID) instead of a password. They are phishing-resistant and much more secure.

Setup:

1. Settings → Security → Add Passkey
2. Your browser opens a biometric prompt — confirm with finger or face
3. Done — you can now log in with just your biometric

Passkeys work on:

• Mac (Touch ID)
• iPhone/iPad (Face ID / Touch ID)
• Android (fingerprint)
• Windows (Windows Hello)
• Hardware keys (YubiKey)

⚠️ The Tesla car browser does not support passkeys. Use username + password with "Stay signed in" in the car.

3. MFA / Two-Factor Authentication (TOTP)

Add an extra layer with an authenticator app:

1. Settings → Security → Enable MFA
2. Scan the QR code with Google Authenticator, Authy, Bitwarden, or similar
3. Enter the 6-digit code to confirm

After setup: every login requires your password + the 6-digit code.

Admins can require MFA for all users:

# .env — forces MFA for all new users:
MFA_REQUIRED_FOR_NEW_USERS=true

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Session security

Setting	Value
Access token lifetime	15 minutes (short-lived)
Refresh token — standard	7 days
Refresh token — "Stay signed in"	90 days
Refresh token storage	httpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax cookie
Token rotation	New refresh token on each use

Tokens are stored as SHA-256 hashes — the cleartext never touches the database.

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IT security best practices for your server

Beyond Tesla Carview's built-in security, your server needs protection too.

🔒 SSH hardening

Disable password authentication — use keys only:

# Generate a key pair on your LOCAL computer:
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "tesla-server"

# Copy public key to server:
ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub root@YOUR-SERVER-IP

# On the server, disable password auth:
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Change these lines:

PasswordAuthentication no
PermitRootLogin prohibit-password
PubkeyAuthentication yes

systemctl restart sshd

⚠️ Test that key-based login works before closing your current SSH session.

Change the default SSH port (optional, reduces log noise):

# In /etc/ssh/sshd_config:
Port 2222    # Any non-standard port

# Update firewall:
ufw allow 2222/tcp
ufw delete allow 22/tcp
systemctl restart sshd

🔥 Firewall (UFW)

The setup script configures UFW automatically. Verify it's correct:

ufw status verbose

Should show:

Status: active
To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
22/tcp (or your SSH port)  ALLOW       Anywhere
80/tcp                     ALLOW       Anywhere
443/tcp                    ALLOW       Anywhere

Block everything else — no other ports should be exposed publicly.

🛡️ Fail2ban (brute-force protection)

Fail2ban automatically bans IPs that repeatedly fail SSH or web logins. The setup script installs and configures it.

Check status:

fail2ban-client status
fail2ban-client status sshd
fail2ban-client status nginx-http-auth

Unban an IP (if you locked yourself out):

fail2ban-client set sshd unbanip YOUR-IP

🔄 Keep everything updated

Auto-updates for the OS:

apt install unattended-upgrades -y
dpkg-reconfigure unattended-upgrades  # Select yes

Auto-updates for Tesla Carview:

# In /opt/tesla-carview/backend/.env:
AUTO_UPDATE_ENABLED=true

Updates run nightly at 03:30 (Europe/Berlin) if enabled.

Docker image updates:

docker compose -f /opt/tesla-carview/docker-compose.prod.yml pull
docker compose -f /opt/tesla-carview/docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

🌐 HTTPS & certificate renewal

Let's Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days and renew automatically via a cron job (set up by the install script).

Check certificate status:

certbot certificates

Test renewal (dry run, no changes):

certbot renew --dry-run

Force renewal if needed:

certbot renew --force-renewal
systemctl restart nginx

🔑 Protect your .env file

Your .env file contains Tesla Client ID, Client Secret, and JWT secret. It must never be:

• Committed to git (it's in .gitignore — don't override this)
• Made publicly accessible
• Shared in screenshots or support requests

# Check permissions — should be 600 (owner read/write only):
ls -la /opt/tesla-carview/backend/.env

# Fix if wrong:
chmod 600 /opt/tesla-carview/backend/.env

📝 Audit log

Tesla Carview records all sensitive actions:

• Login attempts (success and failure)
• Account lockouts
• Password changes
• Vehicle command executions
• Data deletions
• Admin actions

View at: Admin → Audit Log

Export for analysis: Admin → Audit Log → Export CSV

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Security headers

Tesla Carview's nginx configuration includes modern security headers:

• Content-Security-Policy (CSP) — prevents XSS
• Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) — forces HTTPS
• X-Frame-Options: DENY — prevents clickjacking
• X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
• Permissions-Policy — restricts browser features

Check your headers: securityheaders.com

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Reporting a security vulnerability

Found a security issue? Please report it responsibly:

• Do not open a public GitHub issue
• Email: see the SECURITY.md in the repository
• We aim to respond within 48 hours

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Security checklist for new installations

• SSH key-based auth enabled, password auth disabled
• Firewall active (UFW), only ports 22/80/443 open
• Fail2ban running
• Strong admin password (16+ characters or passphrase)
• MFA enabled for admin account
• .env file permissions set to 600
• Auto-updates enabled (OS + Tesla Carview)
• Regular backups configured (see Backup & Restore)
• Audit log periodically reviewed