From b3ba36830b7c8154cbe11a3fe4a2b2574b228819 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Josh Kalderimis Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:20:19 +0200 Subject: updated the security guide on the updated mass-assignment security scopes addition, and assign_attributes in AR --- railties/guides/source/security.textile | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) (limited to 'railties/guides/source') diff --git a/railties/guides/source/security.textile b/railties/guides/source/security.textile index f4c1bde5b1..bf4f11f6b4 100644 --- a/railties/guides/source/security.textile +++ b/railties/guides/source/security.textile @@ -418,10 +418,17 @@ To avoid this, Rails provides two class methods in your Active Record class to c attr_protected :admin ++attr_protected+ also optionally takes a scope option using :as which allows you to define multiple mass-assignment groupings. If no scope is defined then attributes will be added to the default group. + + +attr_protected :last_login, :as => :admin + + A much better way, because it follows the whitelist-principle, is the +attr_accessible+ method. It is the exact opposite of +attr_protected+, because _(highlight)it takes a list of attributes that will be accessible_. All other attributes will be protected. This way you won't forget to protect attributes when adding new ones in the course of development. Here is an example: attr_accessible :name +attr_accessible :name, :is_admin, :as => :admin If you want to set a protected attribute, you will to have to assign it individually: @@ -434,7 +441,25 @@ params[:user] # => {:name => "ow3ned", :admin => true} @user.admin # => true -A more paranoid technique to protect your whole project would be to enforce that all models whitelist their accessible attributes. This can be easily achieved with a very simple initializer: +When assigning attributes in Active Record using +new+, +attributes=+, or +update_attributes+ the :default scope will be used. To assign attributes using different scopes you should use +assign_attributes+ which accepts an optional :as options parameter. If no :as option is provided then the :default scope will be used. You can also bypass mass-assignment security by using the +:without_protection+ option. Here is an example: + + +@user = User.new + +@user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true }) +@user.name # => Josh +@user.is_admin # => false + +@user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true }, :as => :admin) +@user.name # => Josh +@user.is_admin # => true + +@user.assign_attributes({ :name => 'Josh', :is_admin => true }, :without_protection => true) +@user.name # => Josh +@user.is_admin # => true + + +A more paranoid technique to protect your whole project would be to enforce that all models whitelist their accessible attributes. This can be easily achieved with a very simple initializer: ActiveRecord::Base.send(:attr_accessible, nil) -- cgit v1.2.3