SER11-J. Do not invoke overridable methods from the readObject method

Invoking overridable methods from the readObject() method can cause the overriding method to read the state of the subclass before it is fixed. This is because the base class is deserialized first, followed by the subclass. Also see the related guidelines CON09-J. Do not invoke alien methods that rely on invariants protected by the same lock object and MET07-J. Do not invoke overridable methods on the clone under construction.

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example invokes an overridable method from the readObject() method.

private void readObject(final ObjectInputStream stream) throws 
    IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
  overridableMethod(); 
  stream.defaultReadObject();
}

public void overridableMethod() {
  // ...
}

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution removes the call to the overridable method. If this cannot be done, ensure that the overridable method is declared private or final.

private void readObject(final ObjectInputStream stream) throws 
    IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
  stream.defaultReadObject();
}

Risk Assessment

Invoking overridable methods from the readObject() method can lead to initialization errors.

Automated Detection

TODO

Related Vulnerabilities

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

References

[[API 06]]
[[Bloch 08]] Item 17: "Design and document for inheritance or else prohibit it"

SER10-J. Do not serialize direct handles to system resources      14. Serialization (SER)      SER12-J. Avoid memory and resource leaks during serialization