Failure to protect stored data from modification
From OWASP
This is a Vulnerability. To view all vulnerabilities, please see the Vulnerability Category page.
Contents |
Last revision (mm/dd/yy): 11/2/2008
Description
Data should be protected from direct modification.
Consequences
- Integrity: The object could be tampered with.
Exposure period
- Design through Implementation: At design time it is important to reduce the total amount of accessible data.
- Implementation: Most implementation level issues come from a lack of understanding of the language modifiers.
Platform
- Languages: Java, C++
- Operating platforms: Any
Required resources
Any
Severity
Medium
Likelihood of exploit
Medium
One of the main advantages of object-oriented code is the ability to limit access to fields and other resources by way of accessor functions. Utilize accessor functions to make sure your objects are well-formed.
Final provides security by only allowing non-mutable objects to be changed after being set. However, only objects which are not extended can be made final.
Risk Factors
TBD
Examples
In C++:
public: int someNumberPeopleShouldntMessWith;
In Java:
private class parserProg {
public stringField;
}
Another set of Examples are:
In C/C++:
private:
int someNumber;
public:
void writeNum(int newNum) {
someNumber = newNum;
}
In Java:
public class eggCorns {
private String acorns;
public void misHear(String name){
acorns=name;
}
}
Related Attacks
Related Vulnerabilities
Related Controls
- Design through Implementation: Use private members, and class accessor methods to their full benefit. This is the recommended mitigation. Make all public members private, and - if external access is necessary - use accessor functions to do input validation on all values.
- Implementation: Data should be private, static, and final whenever possible This will assure that your code is protected by instantiating early, preventing access and preventing tampering.
- Implementation: Use sealed classes. Using sealed classes protects object-oriented encapsulation paradigms and therefore protects code from being extended in unforeseen ways.
- Implementation: Use class accessor methods to their full benefit. Use the accessor functions to do input validation on all values intended for private values.
Related Technical Impacts
References
TBD
