Apex security best practices

This article is based on the PMD documentation article. See the original article on the PMD site: PMD: security best practices.

Best practices that flag potential security flaws. 

ApexBadCrypto

The rule makes sure you are using randomly generated IVs and keys for Crypto calls. Hard-wiring these values greatly compromises the security of encrypted data.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexBadCryptoRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    Blob hardCodedIV = Blob.valueOf('Hardcoded IV 123');
    Blob hardCodedKey = Blob.valueOf('0000000000000000');
    Blob data = Blob.valueOf('Data to be encrypted');
    Blob encrypted = Crypto.encrypt('AES128', hardCodedKey, hardCodedIV, data);
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexCRUDViolation

The rule validates you are checking for access permissions before a SOQL/SOSL/DML operation. Since Apex runs in system mode not having proper permissions checks results in escalation of privilege and may produce runtime errors. This check forces you to handle such scenarios.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexCRUDViolationRule

Example

public class Foo {
    public Contact foo(String status, String ID) {
        Contact c = [SELECT Status__c FROM Contact WHERE Id=:ID];

        // Make sure we can update the database before even trying
        if (!Schema.sObjectType.Contact.fields.Name.isUpdateable()) {
            return null;
        }

        c.Status__c = status;
        update c;
        return c;
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexCSRF

Check to avoid making DML operations in Apex class constructor/init method. This prevents modification of the database just by accessing a page.

This rule is defined by the following Java class:

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexCSRFRule

Example

public class Foo {
    public init() {
        insert data;
    }

    public Foo() {
        insert data;
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexDangerousMethods

Checks against calling dangerous methods.

For the time being, it reports:

  • Against FinancialForce’s Configuration.disableTriggerCRUDSecurity(). Disabling CRUD security opens the door to several attacks and requires manual validation, which is unreliable.
  • Calling System.debug passing sensitive data as parameter, which could lead to exposure of private data.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexDangerousMethodsRule

Example

public class Foo {
    public Foo() {
        Configuration.disableTriggerCRUDSecurity();
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexInsecureEndpoint

Checks against accessing endpoints under plain http. You should always use https for security.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexInsecureEndpointRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    void foo() {
        HttpRequest req = new HttpRequest();
        req.setEndpoint('http://localhost:com');
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexOpenRedirect

Checks against redirects to user-controlled locations. This prevents attackers from redirecting users to phishing sites.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexOpenRedirectRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    String unsafeLocation = ApexPage.getCurrentPage().getParameters.get('url_param');
    PageReference page() {
       return new PageReference(unsafeLocation);
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexSharingViolations

Detect classes declared without explicit sharing mode if DML methods are used. This forces the developer to take access restrictions into account before modifying objects.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexSharingViolationsRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    // DML operation here
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexSOQLInjection

Detects the usage of not trusted / unescaped variables in DML queries.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexSOQLInjectionRule

Example

public class Foo {
    public void test1(String t1) {
        Database.query('SELECT Id FROM Account' + t1);
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexSuggestUsingNamedCred

Detects hardcoded credentials used in requests to an endpoint.

You should refrain from hardcoding credentials:

  • They are hard to mantain by being mixed in application code
  • Particularly hard to update them when used from different classes
  • Granting a developer access to the codebase means granting knowledge of credentials, keeping a two-level access is not possible.
  • Using different credentials for different environments is troublesome and error-prone.

Instead, you should use Named Credentials and a callout endpoint.

This rule is defined by the following Java class:

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexSuggestUsingNamedCredRule

Example

public class Foo {
    public void foo(String username, String password) {
        Blob headerValue = Blob.valueOf(username + ':' + password);
        String authorizationHeader = 'BASIC ' + EncodingUtil.base64Encode(headerValue);
        req.setHeader('Authorization', authorizationHeader);
    }
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexXSSFromEscapeFalse

Reports on calls to addError with disabled escaping. The message passed to addError will be displayed directly to the user in the UI, making it prime ground for XSS attacks if unescaped.

This rule is defined by the following Java class:

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexXSSFromEscapeFalseRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    Trigger.new[0].addError(vulnerableHTMLGoesHere, false);
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

ApexXSSFromURLParam

Makes sure that all values obtained from URL parameters are properly escaped / sanitized to avoid XSS attacks.

This rule is defined by the following Java class: 

net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.apex.rule.security.ApexXSSFromURLParamRule

Example

public without sharing class Foo {
    String unescapedstring = ApexPage.getCurrentPage().getParameters.get('url_param');
    String usedLater = unescapedstring;
}

Properties

NameDefault ValueDescription
cc_categories[Style]Code Climate Categories
cc_remediation_points_multiplier1Code Climate Remediation Points multiplier
cc_block_highlightingfalseCode Climate Block Highlighting

What's here

Related content

 PMD: security best practices




Last modified on Jul 14, 2020