| bc-version |
domain |
keywords |
technologies |
countries |
application-area |
|
|
security |
| access |
| internal |
| internalsvisibleto |
| recordref |
| codeunit-run |
| security-boundary |
| authorization |
|
|
|
|
Access Internal is API hygiene, not an authorization boundary
Description
Access = Internal controls compile-time symbol visibility. It does not prevent runtime access through mechanisms such as RecordRef, TransferFields, or Codeunit.Run, and internalsVisibleTo deliberately grants compile-time access to named companion apps. Microsoft explicitly documents that access modifiers cannot be used as a security boundary.
Best Practice
Use internal to keep implementation details out of the supported API, but enforce sensitive operations with permissions, entitlements, and explicit authorization checks appropriate to the operation. Treat internalsVisibleTo as a same-publisher development/testability relationship, not as a trust grant for secrets or elevated data access.
See sample: internal-access-is-not-a-security-boundary.good.al.
Anti Pattern
Placing privileged work in an internal codeunit and claiming that other extensions cannot invoke it, or exposing an app to a different publisher through internalsVisibleTo because internal is assumed to protect the underlying operation. The access modifier narrows supported callers; it does not authenticate runtime callers.
See sample: internal-access-is-not-a-security-boundary.bad.al.