github / github/codeql

java/ssrf: allowlist guard not recognized when expressed via Stream/lambda (anyMatch), only via plain equals()/for-loop

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CodeQL
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Description

### Query
`java/ssrf` (Server-side request forgery), Java/Kotlin `Security/CWE-918`

### Summary
The SSRF sanitizer-guard recognition for this query does not appear to model an allowlist check expressed via `Arrays.stream(...).anyMatch(...)` (or other `Stream`/lambda/method-reference based equality checks) as taint-clearing, even though a functionally identical check written as a plain `for` loop with `.equals()`/`.equalsIgnoreCase()` calls *is* recognized and clears the alert.

### Example (not recognized — alert fires)
```java
private static boolean isAllowedHost(String host, String... allowedHosts) {
return Arrays.stream(allowedHosts).anyMatch(host::equalsIgnoreCase);
}

void fetch(String userUrl) {
URI uri = new URI(userUrl);
if (isAllowedHost(uri.getHost(), "example.com")) {
uri.toURL().openConnection(); // still flagged as SSRF sink
}
}
```

### Example (recognized — alert clears)
```java
private static boolean isAllowedHost(String host, String... allowedHosts) {
for (String allowed : allowedHosts) {
if (allowed.equalsIgnoreCase(host)) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
```
(Identical behavior/contract; only the loop construct differs.)

### Why this matters
Lambda-based and `Stream`-based collection idioms (`anyMatch`, `Set.of(...).contains(...)`, etc.) have been idiomatic, widely-used Java since Java 8 (2014). A sanitizer-guard recognizer that only matches a narrow inline `if (LITERAL.equals(x))`/plain-loop shape — and not equivalent `Stream`/lambda forms — produces false positives that push teams toward less readable, less idiomatic code purely to satisfy the analyzer, with no corresponding security benefit. This also seems inconsistent with sanitizer/guard modeling in other CodeQL queries that do recognize `Collection.contains(...)`-style checks.

### Ask
Could the `java/ssrf` (and ideally the shared sanitizer-guard library used across similar taint-tracking queries) be extended to recognize equality-based allowlist checks expressed via common `Stream`/lambda idioms (`Arrays.stream(...).anyMatch(x::equals)`, `Collection.contains(x)`, `Set.of(...).contains(x)`) as taint-clearing guards, equivalent to their imperative-loop counterparts?

Happy to provide a minimal reproducible test case/repo if useful.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with the java/ssrf query and the shared sanitizer-guard library it uses; inspect how the existing equals() and loop forms are modeled. Add regression coverage for the Arrays.stream(...).anyMatch(...), method-reference, and contains(...) examples, and verify that recognized allowlist checks clear the SSRF alert without weakening other cases.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
devtools, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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