From f72ed4edab73ce0f5f6fdde5696f351c99e040aa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sipke Schoorstra <sipkeschoorstra@outlook.com>
Date: Wed, 20 May 2026 22:50:13 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Harden timestamp filter validation null handling

---
 .../Endpoints/Alterations/Submit/Endpoint.cs  |  2 +-
 .../Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilter.cs         |  6 ++++
 .../AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests.cs     | 32 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests.cs   |  9 ++++++
 4 files changed, 48 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/modules/Elsa.Alterations/Endpoints/Alterations/Submit/Endpoint.cs b/src/modules/Elsa.Alterations/Endpoints/Alterations/Submit/Endpoint.cs
index af934067f..8b2319f1e 100644
--- a/src/modules/Elsa.Alterations/Endpoints/Alterations/Submit/Endpoint.cs
+++ b/src/modules/Elsa.Alterations/Endpoints/Alterations/Submit/Endpoint.cs
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public class Submit : ElsaEndpoint<AlterationPlanParams, Response>
 
     private bool ValidateInput(AlterationPlanParams planParams)
     {
-        var errors = WorkflowInstanceFilter.ValidateTimestampFilters(planParams.Filter.TimestampFilters).ToList();
+        var errors = WorkflowInstanceFilter.ValidateTimestampFilters(planParams.Filter?.TimestampFilters).ToList();
 
         foreach (var error in errors)
             AddError(error);
diff --git a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Management/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilter.cs b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Management/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilter.cs
index 2841e98a7..0157107ca 100644
--- a/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Management/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilter.cs
+++ b/src/modules/Elsa.Workflows.Management/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilter.cs
@@ -217,6 +217,12 @@ public class WorkflowInstanceFilter
 
         foreach (var timestampFilter in timestampFilters)
         {
+            if (timestampFilter == null)
+            {
+                yield return "Timestamp filter must be specified.";
+                continue;
+            }
+
             if (!TryNormalizeTimestampFilterColumn(timestampFilter.Column, out _, out var error))
                 yield return error;
         }
diff --git a/test/integration/Elsa.Alterations.IntegrationTests/AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests.cs b/test/integration/Elsa.Alterations.IntegrationTests/AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests.cs
index 196dc7939..2b1b93a39 100644
--- a/test/integration/Elsa.Alterations.IntegrationTests/AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests.cs
+++ b/test/integration/Elsa.Alterations.IntegrationTests/AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests.cs
@@ -78,6 +78,26 @@ public class AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests : IAsyncLifetime
         Assert.Contains("Invalid timestamp filter column", body);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task Submit_WithNullFilter_DoesNotReturnServerError()
+    {
+        var response = await _httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync("/alterations/submit", new { filter = (object?)null });
+
+        Assert.NotEqual(HttpStatusCode.InternalServerError, response.StatusCode);
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [InlineData("/alterations/dry-run")]
+    [InlineData("/alterations/submit")]
+    public async Task Post_WithNullTimestampFilter_ReturnsBadRequest(string path)
+    {
+        var response = await _httpClient.PostAsJsonAsync(path, CreateRequestWithNullTimestampFilter(path));
+        var body = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
+
+        Assert.Equal(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, response.StatusCode);
+        Assert.Contains("Timestamp filter must be specified.", body);
+    }
+
     private static object CreateRequest(string path)
     {
         var filter = new
@@ -97,4 +117,16 @@ public class AlterationsApiTimestampFilterTests : IAsyncLifetime
             ? new { filter }
             : filter;
     }
+
+    private static object CreateRequestWithNullTimestampFilter(string path)
+    {
+        var filter = new
+        {
+            timestampFilters = new object?[] { null }
+        };
+
+        return path == "/alterations/submit"
+            ? new { filter }
+            : filter;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Management.UnitTests/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests.cs b/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Management.UnitTests/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests.cs
index 9854212e3..4d4468474 100644
--- a/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Management.UnitTests/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests.cs
+++ b/test/unit/Elsa.Workflows.Management.UnitTests/Filters/WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests.cs
@@ -87,6 +87,15 @@ public class WorkflowInstanceFilterTimestampTests
         Assert.Equal("Timestamp filter column must be specified.", error);
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void ValidateTimestampFilters_WithNullFilter_ReturnsClearValidationError()
+    {
+        var errors = WorkflowInstanceFilter.ValidateTimestampFilters([null!]).ToList();
+
+        var error = Assert.Single(errors);
+        Assert.Equal("Timestamp filter must be specified.", error);
+    }
+
     private DateTimeOffset GetMatchingTimestamp(string column) => column switch
     {
         nameof(WorkflowInstance.CreatedAt) => _matchingCreatedAt,