The security manager is a class that allows applications to implement a security policy. It allows an application to determine, before performing a possibly unsafe or sensitive operation, what the operation is and whether it is being attempted in a security context that allows the operation to be performed. The application can allow or disallow the operation.

The SecurityManager class contains many methods with names that begin with the word check. These methods are called by various methods in the Java libraries before those methods perform certain potentially sensitive operations. The invocation of such a check method typically looks like this:

SecurityManager security = System.getSecurityManager();
if (security != null) {
    security.checkXXX(argument,  . . . );
}

The security manager is thereby given an opportunity to prevent completion of the operation by throwing an exception. A security manager routine simply returns if the operation is permitted, but throws a SecurityException if the operation is not permitted. The only exception to this convention is checkTopLevelWindow, which returns a boolean value.

The current security manager is set by the setSecurityManager method in class System. The current security manager is obtained by the getSecurityManager method.

The special method checkPermission(java.security.Permission) determines whether an access request indicated by a specified permission should be granted or denied. The default implementation calls

AccessController.checkPermission(perm);

If a requested access is allowed, checkPermission returns quietly. If denied, a SecurityException is thrown.

As of Java 2 SDK v1.2, the default implementation of each of the other check methods in SecurityManager is to call the SecurityManager checkPermission method to determine if the calling thread has permission to perform the requested operation.

Note that the checkPermission method with just a single permission argument always performs security checks within the context of the currently executing thread. Sometimes a security check that should be made within a given context will actually need to be done from within a different context (for example, from within a worker thread). The getSecurityContext method and the checkPermission method that includes a context argument are provided for this situation. The getSecurityContext method returns a "snapshot" of the current calling context. (The default implementation returns an AccessControlContext object.) A sample call is the following:

Object context = null;
   SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
   if (sm != null) context = sm.getSecurityContext();

The checkPermission method that takes a context object in addition to a permission makes access decisions based on that context, rather than on that of the current execution thread. Code within a different context can thus call that method, passing the permission and the previously-saved context object. A sample call, using the SecurityManager sm obtained as in the previous example, is the following:

if (sm != null) sm.checkPermission(permission, context);

Permissions fall into these categories: File, Socket, Net, Security, Runtime, Property, AWT, Reflect, and Serializable. The classes managing these various permission categories are java.io.FilePermission, java.net.SocketPermission, java.net.NetPermission, java.security.SecurityPermission, java.lang.RuntimePermission, java.util.PropertyPermission, java.awt.AWTPermission, java.lang.reflect.ReflectPermission, and java.io.SerializablePermission.

All but the first two (FilePermission and SocketPermission) are subclasses of java.security.BasicPermission, which itself is an abstract subclass of the top-level class for permissions, which is java.security.Permission. BasicPermission defines the functionality needed for all permissions that contain a name that follows the hierarchical property naming convention (for example, "exitVM", "setFactory", "queuePrintJob", etc). An asterisk may appear at the end of the name, following a ".", or by itself, to signify a wildcard match. For example: "a.*" or "*" is valid, "*a" or "a*b" is not valid.

FilePermission and SocketPermission are subclasses of the top-level class for permissions (java.security.Permission). Classes like these that have a more complicated name syntax than that used by BasicPermission subclass directly from Permission rather than from BasicPermission. For example, for a java.io.FilePermission object, the permission name is the path name of a file (or directory).

Some of the permission classes have an "actions" list that tells the actions that are permitted for the object. For example, for a java.io.FilePermission object, the actions list (such as "read, write") specifies which actions are granted for the specified file (or for files in the specified directory).

Other permission classes are for "named" permissions - ones that contain a name but no actions list; you either have the named permission or you don't.

Note: There is also a java.security.AllPermission permission that implies all permissions. It exists to simplify the work of system administrators who might need to perform multiple tasks that require all (or numerous) permissions.

See Permissions in the JDK for permission-related information. This document includes, for example, a table listing the various SecurityManager check methods and the permission(s) the default implementation of each such method requires. It also contains a table of all the version 1.2 methods that require permissions, and for each such method tells which permission it requires.

For more information about SecurityManager changes made in the JDK and advice regarding porting of 1.1-style security managers, see the security documentation.

Constructs a new SecurityManager.

If there is a security manager already installed, this method first calls the security manager's checkPermission method with the RuntimePermission("createSecurityManager") permission to ensure the calling thread has permission to create a new security manager. This may result in throwing a SecurityException.

Returns the current execution stack as an array of classes.

The length of the array is the number of methods on the execution stack. The element at index 0 is the class of the currently executing method, the element at index 1 is the class of that method's caller, and so on.

Returns the class loader of the most recently executing method from a class defined using a non-system class loader. A non-system class loader is defined as being a class loader that is not equal to the system class loader (as returned by ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader()) or one of its ancestors.

This method will return null in the following three cases:

1. All methods on the execution stack are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
2. All methods on the execution stack up to the first "privileged" caller (see AccessController.doPrivileged(java.security.PrivilegedAction<T>)) are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
3. A call to checkPermission with java.security.AllPermission does not result in a SecurityException.

Returns the class of the most recently executing method from a class defined using a non-system class loader. A non-system class loader is defined as being a class loader that is not equal to the system class loader (as returned by ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader()) or one of its ancestors.

This method will return null in the following three cases:

1. All methods on the execution stack are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
2. All methods on the execution stack up to the first "privileged" caller (see AccessController.doPrivileged(java.security.PrivilegedAction<T>)) are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
3. A call to checkPermission with java.security.AllPermission does not result in a SecurityException.

Returns the stack depth of the most recently executing method from a class defined using a non-system class loader. A non-system class loader is defined as being a class loader that is not equal to the system class loader (as returned by ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader()) or one of its ancestors.

This method will return -1 in the following three cases:

1. All methods on the execution stack are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
2. All methods on the execution stack up to the first "privileged" caller (see AccessController.doPrivileged(java.security.PrivilegedAction<T>)) are from classes defined using the system class loader or one of its ancestors.
3. A call to checkPermission with java.security.AllPermission does not result in a SecurityException.

Creates an object that encapsulates the current execution environment. The result of this method is used, for example, by the three-argument checkConnect method and by the two-argument checkRead method. These methods are needed because a trusted method may be called on to read a file or open a socket on behalf of another method. The trusted method needs to determine if the other (possibly untrusted) method would be allowed to perform the operation on its own.

The default implementation of this method is to return an AccessControlContext object.

Throws a SecurityException if the requested access, specified by the given permission, is not permitted based on the security policy currently in effect.

This method calls AccessController.checkPermission with the given permission.

Throws a SecurityException if the specified security context is denied access to the resource specified by the given permission. The context must be a security context returned by a previous call to getSecurityContext and the access control decision is based upon the configured security policy for that security context.

If context is an instance of AccessControlContext then the AccessControlContext.checkPermission method is invoked with the specified permission.

If context is not an instance of AccessControlContext then a SecurityException is thrown.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to create a new class loader.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("createClassLoader") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkCreateClassLoader at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to modify the thread argument.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by the stop, suspend, resume, setPriority, setName, and setDaemon methods of class Thread.

If the thread argument is a system thread (belongs to the thread group with a null parent) then this method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("modifyThread") permission. If the thread argument is not a system thread, this method just returns silently.

Applications that want a stricter policy should override this method. If this method is overridden, the method that overrides it should additionally check to see if the calling thread has the RuntimePermission("modifyThread") permission, and if so, return silently. This is to ensure that code granted that permission (such as the JDK itself) is allowed to manipulate any thread.

If this method is overridden, then super.checkAccess should be called by the first statement in the overridden method, or the equivalent security check should be placed in the overridden method.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to modify the thread group argument.

This method is invoked for the current security manager when a new child thread or child thread group is created, and by the setDaemon, setMaxPriority, stop, suspend, resume, and destroy methods of class ThreadGroup.

If the thread group argument is the system thread group ( has a null parent) then this method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("modifyThreadGroup") permission. If the thread group argument is not the system thread group, this method just returns silently.

Applications that want a stricter policy should override this method. If this method is overridden, the method that overrides it should additionally check to see if the calling thread has the RuntimePermission("modifyThreadGroup") permission, and if so, return silently. This is to ensure that code granted that permission (such as the JDK itself) is allowed to manipulate any thread.

If this method is overridden, then super.checkAccess should be called by the first statement in the overridden method, or the equivalent security check should be placed in the overridden method.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to cause the Java Virtual Machine to halt with the specified status code.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by the exit method of class Runtime. A status of 0 indicates success; other values indicate various errors.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("exitVM."+status) permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkExit at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to create a subprocess.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by the exec methods of class Runtime.

This method calls checkPermission with the FilePermission(cmd,"execute") permission if cmd is an absolute path, otherwise it calls checkPermission with FilePermission("<<ALL FILES>>","execute").

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkExec at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to dynamic link the library code specified by the string argument file. The argument is either a simple library name or a complete filename.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by methods load and loadLibrary of class Runtime.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("loadLibrary."+lib) permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkLink at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to read from the specified file descriptor.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("readFileDescriptor") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkRead at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to read the file specified by the string argument.

This method calls checkPermission with the FilePermission(file,"read") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkRead at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the specified security context is not allowed to read the file specified by the string argument. The context must be a security context returned by a previous call to getSecurityContext.

If context is an instance of AccessControlContext then the AccessControlContext.checkPermission method will be invoked with the FilePermission(file,"read") permission.

If context is not an instance of AccessControlContext then a SecurityException is thrown.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkRead at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to write to the specified file descriptor.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("writeFileDescriptor") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkWrite at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to write to the file specified by the string argument.

This method calls checkPermission with the FilePermission(file,"write") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkWrite at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to delete the specified file.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by the delete method of class File.

This method calls checkPermission with the FilePermission(file,"delete") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkDelete at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to open a socket connection to the specified host and port number.

A port number of -1 indicates that the calling method is attempting to determine the IP address of the specified host name.

This method calls checkPermission with the SocketPermission(host+":"+port,"connect") permission if the port is not equal to -1. If the port is equal to -1, then it calls checkPermission with the SocketPermission(host,"resolve") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkConnect at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the specified security context is not allowed to open a socket connection to the specified host and port number.

A port number of -1 indicates that the calling method is attempting to determine the IP address of the specified host name.

If context is not an instance of AccessControlContext then a SecurityException is thrown.

Otherwise, the port number is checked. If it is not equal to -1, the context's checkPermission method is called with a SocketPermission(host+":"+port,"connect") permission. If the port is equal to -1, then the context's checkPermission method is called with a SocketPermission(host,"resolve") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkConnect at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to wait for a connection request on the specified local port number.

This method calls checkPermission with the SocketPermission("localhost:"+port,"listen").

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkListen at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not permitted to accept a socket connection from the specified host and port number.

This method is invoked for the current security manager by the accept method of class ServerSocket.

This method calls checkPermission with the SocketPermission(host+":"+port,"accept") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkAccept at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to use (join/leave/send/receive) IP multicast.

This method calls checkPermission with the java.net.SocketPermission(maddr.getHostAddress(), "accept,connect") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkMulticast at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to use (join/leave/send/receive) IP multicast.

This method calls checkPermission with the java.net.SocketPermission(maddr.getHostAddress(), "accept,connect") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkMulticast at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access or modify the system properties.

This method is used by the getProperties and setProperties methods of class System.

This method calls checkPermission with the PropertyPermission("*", "read,write") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkPropertiesAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access the system property with the specified key name.

This method is used by the getProperty method of class System.

This method calls checkPermission with the PropertyPermission(key, "read") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkPropertyAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Returns false if the calling thread is not trusted to bring up the top-level window indicated by the window argument. In this case, the caller can still decide to show the window, but the window should include some sort of visual warning. If the method returns true, then the window can be shown without any special restrictions.

See class Window for more information on trusted and untrusted windows.

This method calls checkPermission with the AWTPermission("showWindowWithoutWarningBanner") permission, and returns true if a SecurityException is not thrown, otherwise it returns false. In the case of subset Profiles of Java SE that do not include the java.awt package, checkPermission is instead called to check the permission java.security.AllPermission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkTopLevelWindow at the point the overridden method would normally return false, and the value of super.checkTopLevelWindow should be returned.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to initiate a print job request.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("queuePrintJob") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkPrintJobAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access the system clipboard.

This method calls checkPermission with the AWTPermission("accessClipboard") permission. In the case of subset Profiles of Java SE that do not include the java.awt package, checkPermission is instead called to check the permission java.security.AllPermission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkSystemClipboardAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access the AWT event queue.

This method calls checkPermission with the AWTPermission("accessEventQueue") permission. In the case of subset Profiles of Java SE that do not include the java.awt package, checkPermission is instead called to check the permission java.security.AllPermission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkAwtEventQueueAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access the package specified by the argument.

This method is used by the loadClass method of class loaders.

This method first gets a list of restricted packages by obtaining a comma-separated list from a call to java.security.Security.getProperty("package.access"), and checks to see if pkg starts with or equals any of the restricted packages. If it does, then checkPermission gets called with the RuntimePermission("accessClassInPackage."+pkg) permission.

If this method is overridden, then super.checkPackageAccess should be called as the first line in the overridden method.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to define classes in the package specified by the argument.

This method is used by the loadClass method of some class loaders.

This method first gets a list of restricted packages by obtaining a comma-separated list from a call to java.security.Security.getProperty("package.definition"), and checks to see if pkg starts with or equals any of the restricted packages. If it does, then checkPermission gets called with the RuntimePermission("defineClassInPackage."+pkg) permission.

If this method is overridden, then super.checkPackageDefinition should be called as the first line in the overridden method.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to set the socket factory used by ServerSocket or Socket, or the stream handler factory used by URL.

This method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("setFactory") permission.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkSetFactory at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.

Throws a SecurityException if the calling thread is not allowed to access members.

The default policy is to allow access to PUBLIC members, as well as access to classes that have the same class loader as the caller. In all other cases, this method calls checkPermission with the RuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers") permission.

If this method is overridden, then a call to super.checkMemberAccess cannot be made, as the default implementation of checkMemberAccess relies on the code being checked being at a stack depth of 4.

Determines whether the permission with the specified permission target name should be granted or denied.

If the requested permission is allowed, this method returns quietly. If denied, a SecurityException is raised.

This method creates a SecurityPermission object for the given permission target name and calls checkPermission with it.

See the documentation for SecurityPermission for a list of possible permission target names.

If you override this method, then you should make a call to super.checkSecurityAccess at the point the overridden method would normally throw an exception.