Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide · Lesson

Spring Security Fundamentals

Set up Spring Security, understand its architecture, and implement basic in-memory authentication.

Spring Security Fundamentals is a free Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 1 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.

Welcome to Spring Security!

Securing web applications is crucial in today's digital world. Spring Security is a powerful and highly customizable authentication and access-control framework for Spring applications.

It provides robust security features, allowing you to protect your application from common vulnerabilities and control who can access what.

Why Spring Security?

Imagine building an online store. You need to:

Authenticate users: Verify a user's identity (login).
Authorize actions: Determine what a user can do (e.g., only admins can delete products).
Protect against threats: CSRF, XSS, session fixation.

Spring Security handles all these complex tasks, letting you focus on your application's core logic.

Adding the Security Dependency

To get started, you just need to add the spring-boot-starter-security dependency to your project. This starter brings in all necessary Spring Security modules.

For Maven, add this to your pom.xml:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>

Default Security in Action

Once the dependency is added, Spring Boot automatically configures basic security. Try running this simple application:

package com.coddykit;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class SecurityApp {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(SecurityApp.class, args);
    }

    @GetMapping("/hello")
    public String hello() {
        return "Hello, Secured World!";
    }
}

Default Login & Password

When you run the previous code with the Spring Security dependency, you'll notice something:

Accessing /hello redirects you to a login page.
Spring Security generates a random password, printed in the console at startup.

The username is typically user, and the password is the generated one. This is basic, out-of-the-box security!

AuthN vs. AuthZ

Let's clarify two fundamental concepts:

Authentication (AuthN): Verifying who you are. This is typically done with credentials like username/password.
Authorization (AuthZ): Determining what you are allowed to do once authenticated. For example, a user might be authenticated, but only an 'admin' role can delete data.

Spring Security handles both!

The Security Filter Chain

At its core, Spring Security works by intercepting HTTP requests. It uses a series of filters, called the Security Filter Chain, to apply security logic.

When a request comes in, these filters perform tasks like authentication, authorization, session management, and more, before the request even reaches your controller.

Basic In-Memory Authentication

For simple applications or testing, you can define users directly in your application's memory. This is called in-memory authentication.

You'll configure a UserDetailsService bean that provides user details. Let's see how to define a custom user with a specific role.

Configuring In-Memory Users

Here's how to define a user 'john' with password 'pass' and role 'USER'. Remember to encode passwords!

package com.coddykit;

import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.builders.HttpSecurity;
import org.springframework.security.config.annotation.web.configuration.EnableWebSecurity;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.User;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetails;
import org.springframework.security.core.userdetails.UserDetailsService;
import org.springframework.security.crypto.bcrypt.BCryptPasswordEncoder;
import org.springframework.security.crypto.password.PasswordEncoder;
import org.springframework.security.provisioning.InMemoryUserDetailsManager;
import org.springframework.security.web.SecurityFilterChain;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
@EnableWebSecurity
public class SecurityConfigApp {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(SecurityConfigApp.class, args);
    }

    @GetMapping("/public")
    public String publicAccess() {
        return "This is a public page!";
    }

    @GetMapping("/user")
    public String userAccess() {
        return "Welcome, authenticated user!";
    }

    @Configuration
    static class WebSecurityConfig {

        @Bean
        public SecurityFilterChain securityFilterChain(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
            http
                .authorizeHttpRequests(authorize -> authorize
                    .requestMatchers("/public").permitAll()
                    .requestMatchers("/user").hasRole("USER")
                    .anyRequest().authenticated()
                )
                .formLogin(login -> login
                    .permitAll()
                );
            return http.build();
        }

        @Bean
        public UserDetailsService userDetailsService(PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder) {
            UserDetails user = User.builder()
                .username("john")
                .password(passwordEncoder.encode("pass"))
                .roles("USER")
                .build();
            return new InMemoryUserDetailsManager(user);
        }

        @Bean
        public PasswordEncoder passwordEncoder() {
            return new BCryptPasswordEncoder();
        }
    }
}

Testing In-Memory Users

Run the previous application. Now try accessing:

http://localhost:8080/public: Should be accessible without login.
http://localhost:8080/user: Should redirect to login. Use username 'john' and password 'pass'.
http://localhost:8080/admin: Should redirect to login, then show 403 Forbidden even after logging in as 'john', because 'john' doesn't have the 'ADMIN' role.

Quick Check: Spring Security

You've learned about the basics of Spring Security and in-memory authentication. Let's test your understanding.

Lesson Summary

Great job! In this lesson, you've taken your first steps with Spring Security:

Understood its purpose and core concepts (AuthN, AuthZ).
Added the necessary dependency and observed default behavior.
Learned about the Security Filter Chain.
Implemented basic in-memory authentication with custom users and role-based URL protection.

Next, we'll explore how to handle authentication and authorization using databases and more advanced techniques!

Frequently asked questions

Is the “Spring Security Fundamentals” lesson free?

Yes — the full text of “Spring Security Fundamentals” is free to read here on the web, and the Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.

What will I learn in “Spring Security Fundamentals”?

Set up Spring Security, understand its architecture, and implement basic in-memory authentication. You practise Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

Do I need any experience to start Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide?

No prior experience is required. Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 1 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.

How long does the “Spring Security Fundamentals” lesson take?

Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.

Can I write and run code in this Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide lesson?

Yes. Every Spring Boot 4 Complete Guide lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.

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