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"An inner class is a nested class that is not explicitly or implicitly declared static." JLS 8.1.3

Inner class usage is prone to error A nested class is any class whose declaration occurs within the body of another class or interface [JLS 2015]. The use of a nested class is error prone unless the semantics are well understood. A common notion is that only the outer nested class can may access the contents of the nested inner outer class(es). Not only does the inner nested class have access to the private fields of the outer class, but the same fields can be accessed by another any other class in within the package depending on whether when the inner nested class is declared public or if it contains public methods /constructors. or constructors. As a result, the nested class must not expose the private members of the outer class to external classes or packages.

According to The Java Language Specification (JLS), §8.3, "Field Declarations" [JLS 2015]:

Note that a private field of a superclass might be accessible to a subclass (for example, if both classes are members of the same class). Nevertheless, a private field is never inherited by a subclass.

Noncompliant Code Example

The This noncompliant code in this noncompliant example illegally exposes the private (x,y) coordinates through the getPoint() method of the inner class. The Consequently, the AnotherClass class can as a result illegally that belongs to the same package can also access the coordinates which is clearly not desired.

class Coordinates {
  private int x;
  private int y;

  public class Point {
    public void getPoint() {
      System.out.println("(" + x + "," + y + ")");    
    }
  }
}

class AnotherClass {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Coordinates c = new Coordinates();
    Coordinates.Point p = c.new Point();
    p.getPoint();
  }        
}

Compliant Solution

Use the private access specifier for declaring to hide the inner class (es) and all contained methods and constructors.

class Coordinates {
  private int x;
  private int y;

  private class Point {
    private void getPoint() {
      System.out.println("(" + x + "," + y + ")");    
    }
  }
}

class AnotherClass {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Coordinates c = new Coordinates();
    Coordinates.Point p = c.new Point();    // Fails to compile
    p.getPoint();
  }        
}

Risk Assessment

Compilation of AnotherClass now results in a compilation error because the class attempts to access a private nested class.

Risk Assessment

The Java language system weakens the accessibility of private members of an outer class when a nested inner class is present, which can result in an information leak.TODO

Automated Detection

TODO

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

References

Automated Detection

Automated detection of nonprivate inner classes that define nonprivate members and constructors that leak private data from the outer class is straightforward.

Related Guidelines

Bibliography

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Image Added Image Added Image AddedJLS, 8.1.3 Inner Classes and Enclosing Instances http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/classes.html#8.1.3^{Image Removed}
Securing Java, Gary McGraw