SuiteScript Security & Best Practices — Protecting Data and Access

Introduction

SuiteScript gives developers immense power to automate and extend NetSuite—but with that power comes responsibility.
Poorly secured scripts can expose sensitive financial data, allow unintended record access, or create compliance risks.

In this post, we’ll cover the most important security techniques for any NetSuite developer or administrator.

🔐 1. Principle of Least Privilege

Always grant only the access necessary for a script to function.

• Assign dedicated script deployment roles (e.g., “Script Integration Role”).
• Avoid running under Administrator unless absolutely required.
• Use restrictions by subsidiary, department, or class where applicable.

✅ Tip: When using RESTlets or Suitelets, restrict role access to specific internal or external users only.

🧾 2. Validate All Inputs

Never trust user input—even if the source is an internal record.

Example: validating external parameters in a Suitelet or RESTlet

const invoiceId = parseInt(context.request.parameters.id);
if (isNaN(invoiceId)) {
   throw Error('Invalid Invoice ID');
}

✅ Check for:

• Missing or null values.
• Incorrect data types.
• SQL or script injection attempts in text fields.

🌐 3. Secure External Integrations

When integrating with systems like Shopify, Salesforce, or PayPal:

• Use script parameters to store API credentials.
• Never hardcode tokens or passwords in code.
• Use NetSuite’s Secret Management or Credential fields (Setup > Company > Credentials > Manage Credentials).
• Use HTTPS and validate response signatures.

Example:

const headers = {
  'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + runtime.getCurrentScript().getParameter({name:'custscript_paypal_token'}),
  'Content-Type': 'application/json'
};

🔍 4. Restrict Script Deployments

Limit who can execute your scripts:

✅ Add condition checks like:

const user = runtime.getCurrentUser();
if (!user.role || user.role !== 3) throw 'Access Denied';

🧰 5. Sanitize Data Before Saving

If your script manipulates record data, ensure values are sanitized and validated before submit:

const email = newRec.getValue('email');
if (email && !email.match(/^[^\s@]+@[^\s@]+\.[^\s@]+$/)) {
   throw Error('Invalid email format');
}

🧠 6. Avoid Exposing Sensitive Fields

When building RESTlets or Suitelets that return data:

❌ Don’t expose fields like:

• creditcardnumber, bankaccount, ssn, password

✅ Do return only necessary info:

return { id: inv.id, total: inv.total, date: inv.trandate };

⚙️ 7. Use Governance and Logging Wisely

Security also means resilience.

• Log only essential details—avoid storing personal or financial info in logs.
• Limit logs to log.audit or log.debug with sanitized values.
• Handle exceptions gracefully using try/catch to avoid partial saves.

🔄 8. Implement Role-Based Conditions in Scripts

if (runtime.getCurrentUser().role !== 1004) {
  throw Error('You are not authorized to update this record.');
}

✅ Create a custom “Integration Role” with minimal access and use it for APIs.

📊 9. Secure RESTlets with Token-Based Authentication (TBA)

Always use TBA instead of username/password integrations.

Steps:

1. Enable Token-Based Authentication in Setup > Company > Enable Features.
2. Create Integration Record for your script.
3. Assign Access Tokens to the integration role.
4. Use these tokens in API headers: Authorization: NLAuth nlauth_account=XXXX,nlauth_consumer_key=XXXX,nlauth_token=XXXX

🧩 10. Keep Scripts Versioned and Reviewed

• Use SDF projects and Git version control.
• Perform code reviews to detect potential vulnerabilities.
• Maintain a changelog with who deployed what and when.

✅ Security Checklist

Conclusion

Security isn’t just an IT concern — it’s a core part of SuiteScript development.
By validating inputs, controlling roles, securing credentials, and monitoring governance, you can ensure your scripts are safe, compliant, and reliable.

Strong security means fewer breaches, better client trust, and smoother audits.