# Deserialization Cheat Sheet — Harden Your Own java.io.ObjectInputStream

> The java.io.ObjectInputStream class is used to deserialize objects.

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-owasp-feeafe501086107b7166>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.529574+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `owasp`, `cheatsheets`, `deserialization`, `cheat`, `sheet`, `harden`, `your`, `own`, `java`, `objectinputstream`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/OWASP/CheatSheetSeries/blob/07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c/cheatsheets/Deserialization_Cheat_Sheet.md>
- Source name: OWASP Cheat Sheet Series
- Source revision: `07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c`
- Source license: `CC-BY-SA-4.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

The java.io.ObjectInputStream class is used to deserialize objects. It's possible to harden its behavior by subclassing it. This is the best solution if

you can change the code that does the deserialization; you know what classes you expect to deserialize.

The general idea is to override ObjectInputStream.html#resolveClass() in order to restrict which classes are allowed to be deserialized.

Because this call happens before a readObject() is called, you can be sure that no deserialization activity will occur unless the type is one that you allow.

A simple example is shown here, where the LookAheadObjectInputStream class is guaranteed to not deserialize any other type besides the Bicycle class

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```java
public class LookAheadObjectInputStream extends ObjectInputStream {

    public LookAheadObjectInputStream(InputStream inputStream) throws IOException {
        super(inputStream);
    }

    /**
    * Only deserialize instances of our expected Bicycle class
    */
    @Override
    protected Class&lt;?&gt; resolveClass(ObjectStreamClass desc) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
        if (!desc.getName().equals(Bicycle.class.getName())) {
            throw new InvalidClassException("Unauthorized deserialization attempt", desc.getName());
        }
        return super.resolveClass(desc);
    }
}
```

More complete implementations of this approach have been proposed by various community members

NibbleSec - a library that allows creating lists of classes that are allowed to be deserialized IBM - the seminal protection, written years before the most devastating exploitation scenarios were envisioned. Apache Commons IO classes

Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.