Securing Service Calls at the Portlet Layer

Implementing Permission Checks
Step 2 of 2

Your remote services are now secure for direct use. Your web application, however, is another story–it’s still calling local services. In a perfect world, that would be fine, but this isn’t a perfect world.

Previously, you implemented portlet action methods such as addGuestbook, addEntry, deleteEntry, and so on in GuestbookPortlet and GuestbookAdminPortlet classes. These methods call local services. For example, in the addEntry method of GuestbookPortlet, you used the following call to add a new guestbook entry:

_entryLocalService.addEntry(serviceContext.getUserId(), guestbookId, userName, 
    email, message, serviceContext);

Calling local services from an app’s portlet layer isn’t recommended because they don’t contain permission checks. Nefarious individuals messing with URL parameters might be able to access protected areas of your app. To secure your app, only call remote services from the portlet layer, because that’s the layer that has permission checking. Thus, to secure service calls at the portlet layer, all you have to do is replace the local service calls with remote service calls.

Note: An alternative approach to securing service calls at the portlet layer is to check permissions at the portlet layer manually. To do this, get a ThemeDisplay from the ActionRequest (ThemeDisplay themeDisplay = (ThemeDisplay) request.getAttribute(WebKeys.THEME_DISPLAY);) and get a PermissionChecker from the ThemeDisplay (PermissionChecker permissionChecker = themeDisplay.getPermissionChecker();). If the user passes the permission check, then call the local service method. However, it’s best to avoid rewriting permission checks whenever possible. For this reason, if you must wrap a service call in a permission check, implement that service method as a remote service and add the permission check to the remote service. This is the pattern Liferay DXP uses and that you have followed in this Learning Path.

Use the following steps to secure the service calls in the GuestbookPortlet class:

Replace the _guestbookLocalService and _entryLocalService variable declarations with these:
```
private GuestbookService _guestbookService;
private EntryService _entryService;
```

Replace the GuestbookLocalService and EntryLocalService imports with the these:

import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.service.GuestbookService;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.service.EntryService;

Replace all instances of _guestbookLocalService and _entryLocalService with _guestbookService and _entryService, respectively. Also make sure to replace any GuestbookLocalService and EntryLocalService method arguments with GuestbookService and EntryService, respectively.

Now follow the same steps to change guestbook services in GuestbookAdminPortlet. Note that service calls and variables for guestbook entries aren’t necessary in GuestbookAdminPortlet.

To check that you haven’t made a mistake in your GuestbookPortlet class, refer to the following complete class:

package com.liferay.docs.guestbook.portlet;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;

import javax.portlet.ActionRequest;
import javax.portlet.ActionResponse;
import javax.portlet.Portlet;
import javax.portlet.PortletException;
import javax.portlet.RenderRequest;
import javax.portlet.RenderResponse;

import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Reference;

import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.model.Entry;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.model.Guestbook;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.portlet.constants.GuestbookPortletKeys;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.service.GuestbookService;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.service.EntryService;

import com.liferay.portal.kernel.exception.PortalException;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.portlet.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.service.ServiceContext;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.service.ServiceContextFactory;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionErrors;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionMessages;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.ParamUtil;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.PortalUtil;

/**
 * @author sezovr
 */
@Component(
    immediate = true,
    property = {
        "com.liferay.portlet.display-category=category.social",
        "com.liferay.portlet.instanceable=false",
        "com.liferay.portlet.scopeable=true",
        "javax.portlet.display-name=Guestbook",
        "javax.portlet.expiration-cache=0",
        "javax.portlet.init-param.template-path=/",
        "javax.portlet.init-param.view-template=/guestbookwebportlet/view.jsp",
        "javax.portlet.resource-bundle=content.Language",
        "javax.portlet.security-role-ref=power-user,user",
        "javax.portlet.name=" + GuestbookPortletKeys.GUESTBOOK,
        "javax.portlet.supports.mime-type=text/html"
    },
    service = Portlet.class
)
public class GuestbookPortlet extends MVCPortlet {

    public void addEntry(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response)
                    throws PortalException {

                ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
                    Entry.class.getName(), request);

                String userName = ParamUtil.getString(request, "name");
                String email = ParamUtil.getString(request, "email");
                String message = ParamUtil.getString(request, "message");
                long guestbookId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "guestbookId");
                long entryId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "entryId");

            if (entryId > 0) {

                try {

                    _entryService.updateEntry(
                        serviceContext.getUserId(), guestbookId, entryId, userName,
                        email, message, serviceContext);

                    SessionMessages.add(request, "entryAdded");

                    response.setRenderParameter(
                        "guestbookId", Long.toString(guestbookId));

                }
                catch (Exception e) {
                    System.out.println(e);

                    SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());

                    PortalUtil.copyRequestParameters(request, response);

                    response.setRenderParameter(
                        "mvcPath", "/guestbookwebportlet/edit_entry.jsp");
                }

            }
            else {

                try {
                    _entryService.addEntry(
                        serviceContext.getUserId(), guestbookId, userName, email,
                        message, serviceContext);

                    SessionMessages.add(request, "entryAdded");

                    response.setRenderParameter(
                        "guestbookId", Long.toString(guestbookId));

                }
                catch (Exception e) {
                    SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());

                    PortalUtil.copyRequestParameters(request, response);

                    response.setRenderParameter(
                        "mvcPath", "/guestbookwebportlet/edit_entry.jsp");
                }
            }
        }

    public void deleteEntry(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response) throws PortalException {
        long entryId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "entryId");
        long guestbookId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "guestbookId");

        ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
            Entry.class.getName(), request);

        try {

            response.setRenderParameter(
                "guestbookId", Long.toString(guestbookId));

            _entryService.deleteEntry(entryId, serviceContext);
            SessionMessages.add(request, "entryDeleted");

        }

        catch (Exception e) {
            Logger.getLogger(GuestbookPortlet.class.getName()).log(
                Level.SEVERE, null, e);
            SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());


        }
    }


    @Override
    public void render(
            RenderRequest renderRequest, RenderResponse renderResponse)
        throws IOException, PortletException {

        try {
            ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
                Guestbook.class.getName(), renderRequest);

            long groupId = serviceContext.getScopeGroupId();

            long guestbookId = ParamUtil.getLong(renderRequest, "guestbookId");

            List<Guestbook> guestbooks = _guestbookService.getGuestbooks(
                groupId);

            if (guestbooks.isEmpty()) {
                Guestbook guestbook = _guestbookService.addGuestbook(
                    serviceContext.getUserId(), "Main", serviceContext);

                guestbookId = guestbook.getGuestbookId();
            }

            if (guestbookId == 0) {
                guestbookId = guestbooks.get(0).getGuestbookId();
            }

            renderRequest.setAttribute("guestbookId", guestbookId);
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            throw new PortletException(e);
        }

        super.render(renderRequest, renderResponse);
    }


    @Reference(unbind = "-")
    protected void setEntryService(EntryService entryService) {
        _entryService = entryService;
    }

    @Reference(unbind = "-")
    protected void setGuestbookService(GuestbookService guestbookService) {
        _guestbookService = guestbookService;
    }

    private GuestbookService _guestbookService;
    private EntryService _entryService;


}

To check that you haven’t made a mistake in your GuestbookAdminPortlet class, refer to the following complete class:

package com.liferay.docs.guestbook.portlet;

import java.util.logging.Level;
import java.util.logging.Logger;

import javax.portlet.ActionRequest;
import javax.portlet.ActionResponse;
import javax.portlet.Portlet;

import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Component;
import org.osgi.service.component.annotations.Reference;

import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.model.Guestbook;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.portlet.constants.GuestbookPortletKeys;
import com.liferay.docs.guestbook.service.GuestbookService;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.exception.PortalException;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.portlet.bridges.mvc.MVCPortlet;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.service.ServiceContext;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.service.ServiceContextFactory;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionErrors;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.servlet.SessionMessages;
import com.liferay.portal.kernel.util.ParamUtil;

@Component(
    immediate = true,
    property = {
            "com.liferay.portlet.display-category=category.hidden",
            "com.liferay.portlet.scopeable=true",
            "javax.portlet.display-name=Guestbooks",
            "javax.portlet.expiration-cache=0",
            "javax.portlet.init-param.portlet-title-based-navigation=true",
            "javax.portlet.init-param.template-path=/",
            "javax.portlet.init-param.view-template=/guestbookadminportlet/view.jsp",
            "javax.portlet.name=" + GuestbookPortletKeys.GUESTBOOK_ADMIN,
            "javax.portlet.resource-bundle=content.Language",
            "javax.portlet.security-role-ref=administrator",
            "javax.portlet.supports.mime-type=text/html",
            "com.liferay.portlet.add-default-resource=true"
    },
    service = Portlet.class
)
public class GuestbookAdminPortlet extends MVCPortlet {

    public void addGuestbook(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response)
            throws PortalException {

            ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
              Guestbook.class.getName(), request);

            String name = ParamUtil.getString(request, "name");

            try {
              _guestbookService.addGuestbook(
                serviceContext.getUserId(), name, serviceContext);
              SessionMessages.add(request, "guestbookAdded");

            }
            catch (PortalException e) {

            Logger.getLogger(GuestbookAdminPortlet.class.getName()).log(
              Level.SEVERE, null, e);
            SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());


              response.setRenderParameter(
                "mvcPath", "/guestbookadminportlet/edit_guestbook.jsp");
            }
          }

    public void updateGuestbook(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response)
            throws PortalException {

            ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
              Guestbook.class.getName(), request);

            String name = ParamUtil.getString(request, "name");
            long guestbookId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "guestbookId");

            try {
              _guestbookService.updateGuestbook(
                serviceContext.getUserId(), guestbookId, name, serviceContext);
              SessionMessages.add(request, "guestbookUpdated");


            } catch (PortalException e) {

              Logger.getLogger(GuestbookAdminPortlet.class.getName()).log(
              Level.SEVERE, null, e);
              SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());


              response.setRenderParameter(
                "mvcPath", "/guestbookadminportlet/edit_guestbook.jsp");
            }
          }

    public void deleteGuestbook(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response)
            throws PortalException {

            ServiceContext serviceContext = ServiceContextFactory.getInstance(
              Guestbook.class.getName(), request);

            long guestbookId = ParamUtil.getLong(request, "guestbookId");

            try {
              _guestbookService.deleteGuestbook(guestbookId, serviceContext);
              SessionMessages.add(request, "guestbookDeleted");


            }
            catch (PortalException e) {

              Logger.getLogger(GuestbookAdminPortlet.class.getName()).log(
                  Level.SEVERE, null, e);
              SessionErrors.add(request, e.getClass().getName());


            }
          }


          private GuestbookService _guestbookService;

          @Reference(unbind = "-")
          protected void setGuestbookService(GuestbookService guestbookService) {
          _guestbookService = guestbookService;

          }


}

Now that you’ve implemented permission checks at the portlet layer, users without the proper permissions can’t add, update, or delete a guestbook or guestbook entry entity. Even if a user manually entered a URL pointing to one of your portlet action methods, the portlet action now calls a remote service. The permission check in the remote service aborts the unauthorized user’s request. Excellent work on securing your application’s services!

From here, you can diverge. The later steps of this Learning Path (some still in progress) introduce you to other parts of Liferay DXP’s development framework: workflow, the Recycle Bin, Lexicon, Friendly URLs, Staging and import/export, the Message Bus, and distributing your application on Marketplace. If you’re interested in these topics, continue. But there’s also another option.

Now that you’ve implemented web services, you can create a mobile Guestbook app with Liferay Screens. That Learning Path is available from the navigation on the left.

« Implementing Permission Checks at the Service LayerUsing Workflow »

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