Fixing vulnerabilities in executeAnalyzer to Improve Security and External File Handling #156
Description
Describe the Software Vulnerability
Type of Vulnerability
The executeAnalyzer method contains multiple vulnerabilities related to file handling and permissions when working with temporary files. Specifically:
Insecure Temporary File Creation: The temporary file is created without explicitly specifying a secure temporary directory.
Improper File Permission Management: The method does not validate the results of setReadable, setWritable, and setExecutable, leaving the file potentially accessible to unauthorized users.
Resource Management Issues: Resources like FileWriter and Scanner are not properly closed in some scenarios.
Improper Cleanup: Temporary files may remain undeleted if the deletion operation fails.
Thread State Handling: Interrupted threads do not restore their interrupted status.
Improper File Handling (CWE-377: Insecure Temporary File)
Improper Permission Assignment (CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)
CVE
CWE-377: Insecure Temporary File
CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
Expected outcome
The vulnerabilities will be patched by:
Specifying a secure directory for temporary file creation (System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")).
Validating file permission assignments (setReadable, setWritable, setExecutable) and logging warnings if permissions are not applied.
Ensuring proper resource management using try-with-resources for FileWriter and Scanner.
Handling temporary file deletion failures by logging warnings.
Restoring interrupted thread status to ensure higher-level code can handle interruptions correctly.
Code before refactoring
Code after refactoring
Additional context
Key Changes Made:
Specify Secure Temporary Directory: The temporary file is explicitly created in System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir") to prevent insecure file locations.
Validate and Log File Permissions: Checked return values of setReadable, setWritable, and setExecutable. Logged warnings if permissions are not applied.
Use try-with-resources: Ensured FileWriter and Scanner are properly closed to prevent resource leaks.
Handle File Deletion Failures: Logged a warning if the temporary file could not be deleted.
Restore Interrupted Thread Status: Ensured interrupted thread status is restored after catching InterruptedException.
Why These Changes Matter:
Prevent Arbitrary File Access: Temporary files are secured by restricting permissions.
Minimize Permissions: Permissions are explicitly restricted to reduce misuse risks.
Ensure Cleanup: Temporary files are deleted securely, and issues are logged.
Enhance Security: Adheres to secure coding practices to mitigate public directory risks.
This refactoring improves file handling security and ensures the code adheres to best practices for managing temporary files.