Back to Repositories

Testing Reflection Access Controls in google/gson

This test suite validates Gson’s reflection access capabilities and security handling in Java. It focuses on testing private member access, security manager restrictions, and handling of inaccessible internal classes during JSON serialization/deserialization.

Test Coverage Overview

The test suite provides comprehensive coverage of Gson’s reflection access mechanisms.

Key areas tested include:
  • Private member access restrictions
  • Security manager interactions
  • Internal implementation object serialization
  • Inaccessible field handling
Edge cases focus on security restrictions and class loader isolation scenarios.

Implementation Analysis

The testing approach employs JUnit framework with custom security manager implementation to validate reflection access controls.

Key patterns include:
  • Custom ClassLoader usage for isolation
  • SecurityManager override for permission control
  • TypeAdapter implementation for custom serialization
  • Exception validation for inaccessible components

Technical Details

Testing tools and configuration:
  • JUnit test framework
  • Custom URLClassLoader for class isolation
  • SecurityManager implementation
  • Gson Builder configuration
  • Truth assertion library
  • Runtime version checking for Java 17 compatibility

Best Practices Demonstrated

The test suite exemplifies high-quality testing practices for reflection-based functionality.

Notable practices include:
  • Proper test isolation
  • Comprehensive error case handling
  • Security-focused test scenarios
  • Clear test method organization
  • Detailed error message validation

google/gson

gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/functional/ReflectionAccessTest.java

            
/*
 * Copyright (C) 2021 Google Inc.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package com.google.gson.functional;

import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
import static org.junit.Assert.assertThrows;
import static org.junit.Assume.assumeTrue;

import com.google.gson.Gson;
import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
import com.google.gson.JsonIOException;
import com.google.gson.JsonSyntaxException;
import com.google.gson.TypeAdapter;
import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
import com.google.gson.stream.JsonWriter;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.lang.reflect.ReflectPermission;
import java.net.URL;
import java.net.URLClassLoader;
import java.security.Permission;
import java.util.Collections;
import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
import org.junit.Test;

public class ReflectionAccessTest {
  @SuppressWarnings("unused")
  private static class ClassWithPrivateMembers {
    private String s;

    private ClassWithPrivateMembers() {}
  }

  private static Class<?> loadClassWithDifferentClassLoader(Class<?> c) throws Exception {
    URL url = c.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation();
    URLClassLoader classLoader = new URLClassLoader(new URL[] {url}, null);
    return classLoader.loadClass(c.getName());
  }

  @SuppressWarnings("removal") // java.lang.SecurityManager deprecation in Java 17
  @Test
  public void testRestrictiveSecurityManager() throws Exception {
    // Skip for newer Java versions where `System.setSecurityManager` is unsupported
    assumeTrue(Runtime.version().feature() <= 17);

    // Must use separate class loader, otherwise permission is not checked, see
    // Class.getDeclaredFields()
    Class<?> clazz = loadClassWithDifferentClassLoader(ClassWithPrivateMembers.class);

    Permission accessDeclaredMembers = new RuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers");
    Permission suppressAccessChecks = new ReflectPermission("suppressAccessChecks");
    SecurityManager original = System.getSecurityManager();
    SecurityManager restrictiveManager =
        new SecurityManager() {
          @Override
          public void checkPermission(Permission perm) {
            if (accessDeclaredMembers.equals(perm)) {
              throw new SecurityException("Gson: no-member-access");
            }
            if (suppressAccessChecks.equals(perm)) {
              throw new SecurityException("Gson: no-suppress-access-check");
            }
          }
        };
    System.setSecurityManager(restrictiveManager);

    try {
      Gson gson = new Gson();
      // Getting reflection based adapter should fail
      var e = assertThrows(SecurityException.class, () -> gson.getAdapter(clazz));
      assertThat(e).hasMessageThat().isEqualTo("Gson: no-member-access");

      AtomicBoolean wasReadCalled = new AtomicBoolean(false);
      Gson gson2 =
          new GsonBuilder()
              .registerTypeAdapter(
                  clazz,
                  new TypeAdapter<Object>() {
                    @Override
                    public void write(JsonWriter out, Object value) throws IOException {
                      out.value("custom-write");
                    }

                    @Override
                    public Object read(JsonReader in) throws IOException {
                      in.skipValue();
                      wasReadCalled.set(true);
                      return null;
                    }
                  })
              .create();

      assertThat(gson2.toJson(null, clazz)).isEqualTo("\"custom-write\"");
      assertThat(gson2.fromJson("{}", clazz)).isNull();
      assertThat(wasReadCalled.get()).isTrue();
    } finally {
      System.setSecurityManager(original);
    }
  }

  private static JsonIOException assertInaccessibleException(String json, Class<?> toDeserialize) {
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    try {
      Object unused = gson.fromJson(json, toDeserialize);
      throw new AssertionError(
          "Missing exception; test has to be run with `--illegal-access=deny`");
    } catch (JsonSyntaxException e) {
      throw new AssertionError(
          "Unexpected exception; test has to be run with `--illegal-access=deny`", e);
    } catch (JsonIOException expected) {
      assertThat(expected)
          .hasMessageThat()
          .endsWith(
              "\n"
                  + "See https://github.com/google/gson/blob/main/Troubleshooting.md#reflection-inaccessible");
      // Return exception for further assertions
      return expected;
    }
  }

  /**
   * Test serializing an instance of a non-accessible internal class, but where Gson supports
   * serializing one of its superinterfaces.
   *
   * <p>Here {@link Collections#emptyList()} is used which returns an instance of the internal class
   * {@code java.util.Collections.EmptyList}. Gson should serialize the object as {@code List}
   * despite the internal class not being accessible.
   *
   * <p>See https://github.com/google/gson/issues/1875
   */
  @Test
  public void testSerializeInternalImplementationObject() {
    Gson gson = new Gson();
    String json = gson.toJson(Collections.emptyList());
    assertThat(json).isEqualTo("[]");

    // But deserialization should fail
    Class<?> internalClass = Collections.emptyList().getClass();
    JsonIOException exception = assertInaccessibleException("[]", internalClass);
    // Don't check exact class name because it is a JDK implementation detail
    assertThat(exception).hasMessageThat().startsWith("Failed making constructor '");
    assertThat(exception)
        .hasMessageThat()
        .contains(
            "' accessible; either increase its visibility or"
                + " write a custom InstanceCreator or TypeAdapter for its declaring type: ");
  }

  @Test
  public void testInaccessibleField() {
    JsonIOException exception = assertInaccessibleException("{}", Throwable.class);
    // Don't check exact field name because it is a JDK implementation detail
    assertThat(exception).hasMessageThat().startsWith("Failed making field 'java.lang.Throwable#");
    assertThat(exception)
        .hasMessageThat()
        .contains(
            "' accessible; either increase its visibility or"
                + " write a custom TypeAdapter for its declaring type.");
  }
}