A nonfinal class or method that is not meant to be inherited can be overridden by an attacker if it is not declared as final
[3].
If inheritance is to be limited to trusted implementations for a public, nonfinal class, then the class type should be confirmed before creating the instance at each place where an instance of the nonfinal class can be created. A SecurityManager check should be enforced on detecting a subclass (Chapter 6 of [2]).
A nonfinal class can be subverted simply by declaring a malicious class that inherits from the nonfinal class, which implies that there is no need for reflection. However, reflection is necessary if the nonfinal class is private or otherwise inaccessible to the attacker.
Noncompliant Code Example
In this example, an attacker can easily create an instance and override methods of class BankOperation
. This example also assumes the absence of appropriate Security Manager checks.
class BankOperation { //The account balance has already been retrieved from the database and stored in the foll variable private Integer balance = 5000; public BankOperation() { //invoke java.lang.Object.getClass to get class instance Class clazz = getClass(); //shows the class of the instantiated object System.out.println(clazz); } public void getBalance() { System.out.println("The current balance is: $" + balance); } } //This class has been written by the attacker public class SubClass extends BankOperation { public void getBalance() { //The attacker can change his account balance to any value he wants. Integer modifiedBalance = 0; //to read the new balance from the attacker InputStreamReader input = new InputStreamReader(System.in); Field balance=null; BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(input); System.out.print("Enter balance: "); try { modifiedBalance = Integer.parseInt(reader.readLine()); //this gets the private field from the superclass balance = this.getClass().getSuperclass().getDeclaredField("balance"); //this changes the accessibility so that field can now be accessed if (!Modifier.isPublic(balance.getModifiers())){ balance.setAccessible(true); } //retrieve the original balance System.out.println("Original Balance: $"+balance.get(this)); //change the balance balance.set(this, modifiedBalance); System.out.println("New Balance: $"+balance.get(this)); } catch (Exception e) { e.printStackTrace(); } } public static void main(String[] args) { SubClass subclass = new SubClass(); subclass.getBalance(); } }
Compliant Solution
This compliant solution limits the extensibility of the sensitive class by using the final
keyword.
final class BankOperation{ //... }
In case the class needs to be extended, permissions should be checked in case a subclass is detected during construction so that malicious implementations are blocked.
Risk Assessment
Allowing a nonfinal class or method to be inherited without checking the class instances allows an attacker to exploit it.
Rule |
Severity |
Likelihood |
Remediation Cost |
Priority |
Level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
OBJ33-J |
high |
probable |
high |
P3 |
L3 |
Related Vulnerabilities
Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website
Reference:
SCG 07 Secure Coding Guidelines for the Java Programming Language
OBJ32-J. Do not allow partially initialized objects to be accessed 06. Objects Orientation (OBJ) OBJ34-J. Compare classes and not class names