CA5367: Do not serialize types with pointer fields

Property	Value
Rule ID	CA5367
Title	Do not serialize types with pointer fields
Category	Security
Fix is breaking or non-breaking	Non-breaking
Enabled by default in .NET 9	No

Cause

Pointers are not type safe, which means you cannot guarantee the correctness of the memory they point at. So, serializing types with pointer fields is a security risk, as it may allow an attacker to control the pointer.

Rule description

This rule checks whether there’s a serializable class with a pointer field or property. Members that can’t be serialized can be a pointer, such as static members or fields marked with System.NonSerializedAttribute.

How to fix violations

Don't use pointer types for members in a serializable class or don't serialize the members that are pointers.

When to suppress warnings

Don't take the risk to use pointers in serializable types.

Pseudo-code examples

Violation

C#

using System;

[Serializable()]
unsafe class TestClassA
{
    private int* pointer;
}

Solution 1

C#

using System;

[Serializable()]
unsafe class TestClassA
{
    private int i;
}

Solution 2

C#

using System;

[Serializable()]
unsafe class TestClassA
{
    private static int* pointer;
}