CWE-74

Class Abstraction Level
Pillar — Highest-level weakness category
Class — Abstract, language-independent
Base — Specific enough to detect
Variant — Tied to specific technology
Compound — Requires multiple weaknesses Incomplete MITRE CWE Status
Stable — Fully reviewed and complete
Draft — Under development, may change
Incomplete — Partially defined by MITRE
Deprecated — No longer recommended
Obsolete — Replaced by another CWE Exploit: High
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

Description

The product constructs all or part of a command, data structure, or record using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify how it is parsed or interpreted when it is sent to a downstream component.

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Consequences

Confidentiality — Read Application Data

Many injection attacks involve the disclosure of important information -- in terms of both data sensitivity and usefulness in further exploitation.

Access Control — Bypass Protection Mechanism

In some cases, injectable code controls authentication; this may lead to a remote vulnerability.

Other — Alter Execution Logic

Injection attacks are characterized by the ability to significantly change the flow of a given process, and in some cases, to the execution of arbitrary code.

Integrity, Other — Other

Data injection attacks lead to loss of data integrity in nearly all cases as the control-plane data injected is always incidental to data recall or writing.

Non-Repudiation — Hide Activities

Often the actions performed by injected control code are unlogged.

Mitigations

Phase: Requirements

Programming languages and supporting technologies might be chosen which are not subject to these issues.

Phase: Implementation

Utilize an appropriate mix of allowlist and denylist parsing to filter control-plane syntax from all input.

Detection

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)