The Go Language Guide - Web Application - Secure Coding Practices - OWASP

Oct 13, 2026

A practical guide to secure web application development using the Go programming language, aligned with OWASP Secure Coding Practices-Quick Reference Guide v2. It explains why input handling and output generation are critical security points, then details techniques such as validation, sanitization, output encoding, and protection against common vulnerabilities including XSS and SQL injection. The guide also covers authentication and password management, session management, access control, cryptographic practices, error handling and logging, data protection, communication security (HTTP/TLS and WebSockets), system configuration, database security, and broader secure coding practices with examples in Go.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages87

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Input Validation

Sanitization

Output Encoding

XSS - Cross-Site Scripting

SQL Injection

Authentication and Password Management

Session Management

Access Control

Cryptographic Practices

Error Handling and Logging

Data Protection

Communication Security

System Configuration

Database Security

General Coding Practices

Cross-Site Request Forgery

How To Contribute

The Go Language Guide Web Application Secure Coding Practices This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Table of Contents Introduction Input Validation Validation Sanitization Output Encoding XSS -Cross-Site Scripting SQL Injection Authentication and Password Management Communicating authentication data Validation and Storage Password policies Other guidelines Session Management Access Control Cryptographic Practices Pseudo-Random Generators Error Handling and Logging Error Handling Logging Data Protection Communication Security [HTTP/TLS](HTTP/TLS) WebSockets System Conﬁguration Database Security Connections Authentication Parameterized Queries Stored Procedures File Management Memory Management General Coding Practices Cross-Site Request Forgery Regular Expressions How To Contribute Introduction Go Language -Web Application Secure Coding Practices is a guide written for anyone who is using the Go Programming Language and aims to use it for web development. This book is collaborative eﬀort of Checkmarx Security Research Team and it follows the OWASP Secure Coding Practices-Quick Reference Guide v2 (stable) release. The main goal of this book is to help developers avoid common mistakes while at the same time, learning a new programming language through a "hands-on approach". This book provides a good level of detail on "how to do it securely" showing what kind of security problems could arise during development. Why This Guide According to Stack Overﬂow’s annual Developer Survey, Go has made the top 5 most Loved and Wanted programming languages list for the second year in a row. With its surge in popularity, it is critical that applications developed in Go a re designed with security in mind. Checkmarx Research Team helps educate developers , security teams , and the industry overall about common coding errors , and brings awareness of vulnerabilities that are often introduced during the software development process. The Audience for this Guide The primary audience of the Go Secure Coding Practices Guide is developers , particularly the ones with previous experience with other programming languages. The book is also a great reference to those learning programming for the ﬁrst time, who have already ﬁnish the Go tour. What You Will Learn This book covers the OWASP Secure Coding Practices Guide topic-bytopic, providing examples and recommendations using Go, to help developers avoid common mistakes and pitfalls. After reading this book, you'll be more conﬁdent you're developing secure Go applications. About OWASP Secure Coding Practices The Secure Coding Practices Quick Reference Guide is an OWASP Open Web Application Security Proj ect. It is a "technology agnostic set of general software security coding practices, in a comprehensive checklist format, that can be integrated into the development lifecycle "(source) . OWASP itself is "an open community dedicated to enabling organizations to conceive, develop, acquire, operate, and maintain applications that can be trusted. All of the OWASP tools, documents, forums, and chapters are free and open to anyone interested in improving application security " (source) . How to Contribute This book was created using a few open source tools. If you're curious about how we built it from scratch, read the HowTo contribute section. Input Validation In web application security, user input and its associated data are a security risk if left unchecked. We address this risk by using "Input Validation" and "Input Sanitization". These should be performed in every tier of the application, according to the server's function . An important note is that all data validation procedures must be done on trusted systems (i.e . on the server) . As noted in the OWASP SCP Quick Reference Guide , there are sixteen bullet points that cover t

FAQs

What is the purpose of this Go web application secure coding guide?

It helps developers avoid common security mistakes in Go by following OWASP Secure Coding Practices, using topic-by-topic examples and recommendations that support secure development practices.

How should user input be treated in web applications?

User input must be considered insecure by default and validated only after appropriate security checks, performed on trusted systems (the server), with techniques like whitelisting and boundary checking.

Which major vulnerabilities does the guide focus on?

It highlights risks such as XSS (Cross-Site Scripting), SQL injection, and also covers broader web security topics including CSRF, authentication/session risks, and communication security.

Oct 13, 2026

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