E07910: sanitized parameters must be String type

What went wrong

The 'sanitized' modifier can ONLY be applied to String type parameters. The receiving function or method cleans a 'sanitized' parameter on entry, checking the String for injection patterns. This only makes sense for String types - other types don't have injection vulnerability semantics.

Worked examples

Compilable examples demonstrating this error and the correct fix:

• ek9 -q 661 (Why can sanitized only be used on incoming String paramet...)
• ek9 -q 665 (How do sanitized parameters work with web service content...)

Rationale

Sanitization prevents injection attacks (SQL injection, XSS, command injection). These attacks exploit string interpolation into commands or markup. Non-string types like Integer, Boolean, or objects don't have this attack vector.

How to fix it

1. Remove 'sanitized' modifier from non-String parameters
2. Use sanitized only for String parameters that receive external input
3. For non-String types, use normal type validation

Common causes

• Misunderstanding sanitized as general "validation" (it's specifically for injection)
• Copy-paste from String parameter to non-String parameter
• Trying to apply security modifier to all external inputs

See also

• E07910: sanitized on non-String type (this error)
• E07920: sanitized in wrong location (not on incoming parameter)

https://ek9.io/sanitized.html https://ek9.io/forAI.json#$.sanitizedTypes

Examples

Every example is compiled by the EK9 compiler: the first fails exactly as captioned, the others fix it.

Fails with E07910: sanitized parameters must be String type

#!ek9
defines module error.e07910.bad

  defines function

    //ERROR: Integer cannot be sanitized - only String
    processInteger()
      -> value as sanitized Integer
      <- result as Integer?
      result: value

    //ERROR: Float cannot be sanitized - only String
    processFloat()
      -> value as sanitized Float
      <- result as Float?
      result: value

    //ERROR: Date cannot be sanitized - only String
    processDate()
      -> value as sanitized Date
      <- result as Date?
      result: value

    //ERROR: Time cannot be sanitized - only String
    processTime()
      -> value as sanitized Time
      <- result as Time?
      result: value

    //ERROR: Duration cannot be sanitized - only String
    processDuration()
      -> value as sanitized Duration
      <- result as Duration?
      result: value

    //ERROR: Boolean cannot be sanitized - only String
    processBoolean()
      -> value as sanitized Boolean
      <- result as Boolean?
      result: value

    //VALID: String CAN be sanitized - this should NOT produce an error
    processString()
      -> value as sanitized String
      <- result as String?
      result: value

Fixed: Use 'sanitized' only on a String parameter

#!ek9
defines module error.e07910.good

  defines function

    //A String parameter can be sanitized
    executeQuery()
      -> sql as sanitized String
      <- rtn as String: sql

    //An Integer needs no sanitizing: text that is not a number never becomes one
    processCount()
      -> count as Integer
      <- rtn as Integer: count

Questions and answers

These Q&A entries show E07910 and its fix:

• Q661: Why can sanitized only be used on incoming String parameters?
• Q665: How do sanitized parameters work with web service content binding?
• Q1237: Write me a pure function that takes a sanitized String parameter and returns a different status string for safe input versus blocked malicious input.
• Q1246: Create me an AuditLogger class whose constructor takes a sanitized String log message, where construction with malicious input (file path traversal, terminal escape sequences) leaves the logger in a 'rejected' state.
• Q1247: Write me a QueryBuilder class with an addClause method that takes a sanitized String fragment, returning 'accepted' for clean fragments and 'rejected' for malicious ones (LDAP injection, NoSQL operator injection).