Fixed inappropriate logical expressions

[asifhaider]

Details

While triaging your project, our bug-fixing tool generated the following message(s)-

In file: mongo_to_filesystm_conversion.py, method: serialize_doc, a logical expression uses the identity operator. A new object is created inside the identity check operation and then used for matching identity. Since this is a distinct, new object, it will not match with anything else. As a result, the identity check will have a logical short circuit and the program may have unintended behavior. iCR suggested that the logical operation should be reviewed for correctness.

In this specific case, the lines 68 and 71 of the file mongo_to_filesystm_conversion.py are as follow:

if 'answers' in doc and doc['answers'] is not []:

and

if 'assetContents' in doc and doc['assetContents'] is not []:

In python, the is operator checks for identity, not equality. This means that the is operator checks whether the two operands refer to the same object or not. In this case, [] is an empty list. However, the [] is a new object and is not the same as the list variable being compared with. In both cases mentioned, the is not operator will always return True. We can test this scenerio by running the following code in python:

a = []
print(a is []) # This will print False
print(a == []) # This will print True

Here, the is operator evaluates the expression to return False. However, it should have returned true in this case.

Changes

• To ensure logical correctness, in the lines 68 and 71 the is not operator is replaced with != operator.

if 'answers' in doc and doc['answers'] != []:

and

if 'assetContents' in doc and doc['assetContents'] != []:

Suggestions related to these changes are welcomed.

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Sponsorship and Support

This work is done by the security researchers from OpenRefactory and is supported by the Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF): Project Alpha-Omega. Alpha-Omega is a project partnering with open source software project maintainers to systematically find new, as-yet-undiscovered vulnerabilities in open source code - and get them fixed – to improve global software supply chain security.

The bug is found by running the Intelligent Code Repair (iCR) tool by OpenRefactory and then manually triaging the results.