Salesforce Developers published the top 20 most-flagged vulnerabilities in August 2023. The first three: CRUD/FLS, outdated libraries, sharing violations. Most checklists on the SERP cover the same items in a different order, but the ranking from Salesforce itself is the one that decides if you pass.

Pro Tip

TL;DR: Pass the Salesforce security review by enforcing CRUD/FLS (the top failure cause), fixing sharing and injection issues, removing hard-coded secrets, requiring TLS 1.2+, and running Code Analyzer before you submit (Salesforce Developers). Complete documentation and test credentials are required too.

Work through these before you submit. They map directly to what the review actually tests.

Access control

→ Enforce CRUD/FLS in Apex and UI (use WITH SECURITY_ENFORCED, stripInaccessible(), or explicit checks) → Add with sharing to Apex classes that should respect sharing rules

Input and output

→ Sanitize all user input to prevent SOQL injection → Escape output to prevent stored and reflected XSS → Protect against CSRF

Secrets and transport

→ Remove all hard-coded secrets, credentials, and IDs → Require TLS 1.2+ on every external endpoint → Keep sensitive data out of debug logs

Dependencies and testing

→ Update insecure or outdated library versions (a frequent flag) → Maintain 75%+ Apex test coverage → Run Salesforce Code Analyzer and Checkmarx; fix findings before submitting

Submission package

→ Provide complete documentation and architecture notes → Supply a configured test environment and credentials → Include scan results with justification for any false positives

Pro Tip

Start with CRUD/FLS. It's the single most common rejection by a wide margin. Verifying object- and field-level enforcement everywhere clears the biggest risk before you touch anything else.

Treat security as part of building, not a final step. Run Code Analyzer early and often so issues surface while they're cheap to fix, not after a four-week review. Document your data flows and external integrations, prepare a clean test org with sample data and credentials, and write short justifications for any scanner findings you believe are false positives. Submitting a complete, well-documented package speeds the manual review.

The checklist is long. Every item is a chance for a hand-coded app to slip. Code generated to a fixed standard applies the access-control, sharing, and injection-safety rules uniformly across every component. The most common failures don't occur. Appnigma generates managed-package code against these requirements, which is how non-developers clear a review built around developer-grade secure coding. See building a managed package without a Salesforce developer.

Enforce CRUD/FLS, add with sharing, sanitize inputs, remove hard-coded secrets, require TLS 1.2+, update libraries, keep 75%+ test coverage, run Code Analyzer, and prepare complete docs with test credentials (Salesforce Developers).

Missing CRUD/FLS enforcement, which Salesforce names as the top failure cause by a significant margin. Verifying object- and field-level permission checks everywhere is the highest-impact preparation step.

Architecture and data-flow documentation, a configured test environment with credentials, and your scan results with justification for any false positives. Complete documentation speeds the manual portion of the review.

Yes. The review tests the package, not who authored it. Generated code that enforces CRUD/FLS, sharing, and injection safety by default passes the same review. That's how non-developers list apps.

About the author. Sunny Chauhan is the founder and CEO of Appnigma AI, a no-code platform that generates Salesforce AppExchange-ready managed packages with security requirements built in. He helps SaaS teams pass the review without a security engineer.

To pass the Salesforce security review, enforce CRUD/FLS (the top failure cause), add with sharing, sanitize inputs against SOQL injection and XSS, remove hard-coded secrets, require TLS 1.2+, run Code Analyzer, and submit complete docs with test credentials. Appnigma AI generates managed-package code against these requirements so the common failures don't occur.

• What is the Salesforce security review

• What happens if my app fails security review

• How to build a managed package without a Salesforce developer

• Salesforce security review cost and fee

1/ Salesforce Developers, Top 20 Vulnerabilities in the AppExchange Security Review, 2023 2/ Salesforce Developers, Prepare Your App to Pass the AppExchange Security Review, 2023 3/ Salesforce ISVforce Guide, security requirements

Which item on the checklist did your last review catch you on?