Insecure object reference - Data
Need
Secure access control and data validation
Context
- Requirement of Ruby 2.0 or higher for executing the code
- Usage of Ruby on Rails for building web applications
Description
Non compliant code
class StoresController < ApplicationController
def show
@store = Store.find(params[:id])
end
def update
@store = Store.find(params[:id])
@store.update(store_params)
redirect_to @store
end
private
def store_params
params.require(:store).permit(:name, :address)
end
end
The above code is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR) because it does not validate if the current user has the necessary permissions to access or modify the requested store.
In the show
and update
actions, the Store
object is fetched directly using the id
parameter from the request without any access control checks. This means that if an attacker knows or guesses the id
of a store, they can view or modify its details even if they are not authorized to do so.
For example, in the update
action, an attacker could potentially send a PUT
request with a different id
in the URL and modify the name
and address
of a store they do not own. Similarly, in the show
action, an attacker could view the details of any store by simply changing the id
in the URL.
Steps
- Implement proper authorization checks to ensure that only authorized users can access and modify store information.
- Use a role-based access control (RBAC) system to define and enforce permissions for accessing and modifying store information.
- Validate the user's permissions before allowing them to access or modify store information.
- Ensure that the store identifier is not exposed or easily guessable to prevent unauthorized access to other stores.
- Consider implementing a multi-tenancy architecture to isolate data and prevent unauthorized access to other stores' data.
- Regularly review and update the authorization logic to account for any changes in user roles or permissions.
Compliant code
class StoresController < ApplicationController
before_action :set_store, only: [:show, :update]
before_action :authorize_store, only: [:show, :update]
def show
end
def update
if @store.update(store_params)
redirect_to @store
else
render :edit
end
end
private
def set_store
@store = Store.find(params[:id])
end
def authorize_store
unless current_user.can_access_store?(@store)
redirect_to root_path, alert: "You are not authorized to access this store."
end
end
def store_params
params.require(:store).permit(:name, :address)
end
end
The updated code includes a before_action
filter that sets the @store
instance variable for the show
and update
actions. This reduces code duplication and ensures that the @store
variable is always set before these actions are executed.
The authorize_store
method is another before_action
filter that checks if the current user is authorized to access the @store
. This is done by calling a hypothetical can_access_store?
method on the current_user
object. If the user is not authorized, they are redirected to the root path with an alert message. This method should be implemented in the User model and should contain the logic for checking if a user has the necessary permissions to access a store.
The update
action has been modified to handle the case where the store fails to update due to validation errors. If the update is successful, the user is redirected to the store, otherwise, the edit view is rendered again.
This code assumes that you have a current_user
method (commonly provided by authentication libraries like Devise) and that your User model has a can_access_store?
method that takes a store as an argument and returns a boolean indicating whether the user has permission to access the store.
This approach ensures that only authorized users can access and modify store information, which fixes the insecure direct object reference vulnerability.