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CodeSonar® 9.2p0 CONFIDENTIAL CodeSecure Inc
Java


JAVA.CONCURRENCY.UG.METH : Unguarded Method (Java)

Summary

A public or protected method or constructor might be called without the expected lock being held.

Java uses synchronized statements and methods to guarantee that data is accessed in a sequential way and avoid race conditions in multithreaded applications. Incorrect uses of synchronization result in unexpected behaviors and subtle bugs, very hard to identify and reproduce.

Checks for this warning class make use of annotations @com.juliasoft.julia.checkers.guardedBy.GuardedBy and @com.juliasoft.julia.checkers.guardedBy.Holding. Add these annotations to your code to identify synchronization requirements for CodeSonar to check.

The @GuardedBy annotation for fields and parameters and the @Holding annotation for methods and constructors accept a string argument, according to the following syntax.

Properties

Class Name Unguarded Method (Java)
Significance reliability
Mnemonic JAVA.CONCURRENCY.UG.METH
Categories
CWE CWE:366 Race Condition within a Thread
  CWE:820 Missing Synchronization
CERT-Java CERT-Java:LCK05-J Synchronize access to static fields that can be modified by untrusted code
OWASP-2021 OWASP-2021:A4 Insecure design
OWASP-2025 OWASP-2025:A06 Insecure Design
Availability Available for Java and Kotlin.
Enabling Checks for this warning class are disabled by default. To enable them, add the following WARNING_FILTER rule to the project configuration file.
WARNING_FILTER += allow class="Unguarded Method (Java)"

Example

import lock.quals.GuardedBy;
import lock.quals.Holding;

public class GuardedByTest {
  private int counter;
  private Object lock = new Object();
  private long counter2;
  private static int counter3;
  private static Object lock4 = new Object();
  private static int counter4 = 13;
  private final Object[] locks = new Object[10];
  private int next;
  private final Object lock5 = new Object();
  private final static Object lock6 = new Object();
  private int counter5;

  public GuardedByTest() {
    this.counter = 1;
    this.counter5 = 17;
    this.counter5 += counter;
  }

  public synchronized void incrementCounter() {
    counter++;
  }

  public void decrementCounter() {
    synchronized (this) {
      counter--;
    }
  }

  public boolean checkCounterIs0() {
    Object copy = this;
    synchronized (copy) {
      return counter == 0;
    }
  }

  public void incrementOtherCounter(GuardedByTest other) {
    GuardedByTest copy = other;
    synchronized (copy) {
      incrementCounterAux(other);
    }
  }

  private void incrementCounterAux(@GuardedBy("this") GuardedByTest other) {
   other.counter += 2;
  }

  public void incrementCounter2() {
    synchronized (lock) {
      counter2++;
    }
  }

  public void decrementCounter2() {
    synchronized (lock) {
      counter2--;
    }
  }

  public boolean checkCounter2Is0() {
    Object copy = lock;
    synchronized (copy) {
          return counter2 == 0;
    }
  }

  public void incrementOtherCounter2(GuardedByTest other) {
    GuardedByTest copy = other;
    synchronized (copy.lock) {
      incrementCounter2Aux(other);
    }
  }

  private static void incrementCounter2Aux(GuardedByTest other) {
    other.counter2 += 2;
  }

  public void incrementCounter3() {
    synchronized (GuardedByTest.class) {
      counter3++;
    }
  }

  @Holding("GuardedByTest.class")
  public static synchronized void decrementCounter3() { // Unguarded Method (Java) warning issued here
    counter3--;
  }

  public void incrementCounter4() {
    synchronized (lock4) {
      counter4++;
    }
  }

  public static void decrementCounter4() {
    synchronized (lock4) {
      decrementCounter4Aux();
    }
  }

  @Holding("GuardedByTest.lock4")
  private static void decrementCounter4Aux() {
    counter4--;
  }

  private Object getLock() {
    return locks[next % locks.length];
  }

  public void incrementCounter5() {
    synchronized (getLock()) {
      counter5++;
      next++;
    }
  }

  public void decrementCounter5() {
    synchronized (getLock()) {
      decrementCounter5Aux();
    }
  }

  private void decrementCounter5Aux() {
    counter5--;
  }

  public void accessLock5() {
    synchronized (lock5) {
      lock5.hashCode();
    }
  }

  public static void accessLock6() {
    synchronized (lock6) {
      lock6.hashCode();
    }
  }

  public synchronized void parameterTest1(Object o1, String o2, String o3) {
    System.out.println(o1);
    synchronized (lock) {
      System.out.println(o2);
    }
    synchronized (o3) {
      System.out.println(o3 + " ");
    }
  }
}

Resolution

Verify if the missing synchronization should actually be there. Annotate fields and methods with the lock that must be held when they are accessed or called, by using the @GuardedBy and @Holding annotations. If this checker does not accept those annotations, it is likely the case that your program has a synchronization problem.

Relevant Configuration File Parameters

The following configuration file parameters affect checks for this warning class.

 

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