WordPress / WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards

WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Missing not reported when using filter_input

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Type: Enhancement
Dominant language
PHP
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Bug Description

When using filter_input with INPUT_GET or INPUT_POST or INPUT_COOKIE, it's like accessing the $_GET/$_POST superglobals.
Therefore a nonce validation is required.

Minimal Code Snippet

The issue happens when running this command:

./bin/phpcs --config-set installed_paths ../wpcs

... over a file containing this code:

// should report an error
$foo = filter_input( INPUT_POST, 'email', FILTER_SANITIZE_EMAIL );
update_option( 'abc', $foo, false );

// correctly reports an error:
$foo = $_POST['email'];
update_option( 'def', $foo, false );

Error Code

WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Missing

Environment

Question Answer
PHP version 7.4
PHP_CodeSniffer version 3.7.2
WPCS version 2.3.0
WPCS install type https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards#standalone

Tested Against develop branch?

  • I have verified the issue still exists in the develop branch of WPCS.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the report with the provided ./bin/phpcs command and minimal PHP snippet, comparing filter_input(INPUT_POST/GET/COOKIE) with direct superglobal access. Trace the implementation of WordPress.Security.NonceVerification.Missing and its existing tests; done means filter_input access is reported consistently with the shown $_POST case.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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