Input validation is a frequently-used technique for checking potentially dangerous inputs in order to ensure that the inputs are safe for processing within the code, or when communicating with other components.
Input can consist of:
Data can be simple or structured. Structured data can be composed of many nested layers, composed of combinations of metadata and raw data, with other simple or structured data.
Many properties of raw data or metadata may need to be validated upon entry into the code, such as:
Implied or derived properties of data must often be calculated or inferred by the code itself. Errors in deriving properties may be considered a contributing factor to improper input validation.
| Impact | Details |
|---|---|
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DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory) |
Scope: Availability
An attacker could provide unexpected values and cause a program crash or arbitrary control of resource allocation, leading to excessive consumption of resources such as memory and CPU.
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Read Memory; Read Files or Directories |
Scope: Confidentiality
An attacker could read confidential data if they are able to control resource references.
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Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands |
Scope: Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability
An attacker could use malicious input to modify data or possibly alter control flow in unexpected ways, including arbitrary command execution.
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| Phase(s) | Mitigation |
|---|---|
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Architecture and Design |
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction Consider using language-theoretic security (LangSec) techniques that characterize inputs using a formal language and build "recognizers" for that language. This effectively requires parsing to be a distinct layer that effectively enforces a boundary between raw input and internal data representations, instead of allowing parser code to be scattered throughout the program, where it could be subject to errors or inconsistencies that create weaknesses. [REF-1109] [REF-1110] [REF-1111]
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Architecture and Design |
Strategy: Libraries or Frameworks Use an input validation framework such as Struts or the OWASP ESAPI Validation API. Note that using a framework does not automatically address all input validation problems; be mindful of weaknesses that could arise from misusing the framework itself (CWE-1173).
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Architecture and Design; Implementation |
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter the product, including but not limited to: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide data to the application. Remember that such inputs may be obtained indirectly through API calls.
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Implementation |
Strategy: Input Validation Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright. Effectiveness: High |
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Architecture and Design |
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server. Even though client-side checks provide minimal benefits with respect to server-side security, they are still useful. First, they can support intrusion detection. If the server receives input that should have been rejected by the client, then it may be an indication of an attack. Second, client-side error-checking can provide helpful feedback to the user about the expectations for valid input. Third, there may be a reduction in server-side processing time for accidental input errors, although this is typically a small savings. |
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Implementation |
When your application combines data from multiple sources, perform the validation after the sources have been combined. The individual data elements may pass the validation step but violate the intended restrictions after they have been combined.
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Implementation |
Be especially careful to validate all input when invoking code that crosses language boundaries, such as from an interpreted language to native code. This could create an unexpected interaction between the language boundaries. Ensure that you are not violating any of the expectations of the language with which you are interfacing. For example, even though Java may not be susceptible to buffer overflows, providing a large argument in a call to native code might trigger an overflow.
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Implementation |
Directly convert your input type into the expected data type, such as using a conversion function that translates a string into a number. After converting to the expected data type, ensure that the input's values fall within the expected range of allowable values and that multi-field consistencies are maintained.
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Implementation |
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180, CWE-181). Make sure that your application does not inadvertently decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked. Use libraries such as the OWASP ESAPI Canonicalization control. Consider performing repeated canonicalization until your input does not change any more. This will avoid double-decoding and similar scenarios, but it might inadvertently modify inputs that are allowed to contain properly-encoded dangerous content. |
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Implementation |
When exchanging data between components, ensure that both components are using the same character encoding. Ensure that the proper encoding is applied at each interface. Explicitly set the encoding you are using whenever the protocol allows you to do so.
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| Nature | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChildOf | Pillar Pillar - a weakness that is the most abstract type of weakness and represents a theme for all class/base/variant weaknesses related to it. A Pillar is different from a Category as a Pillar is still technically a type of weakness that describes a mistake, while a Category represents a common characteristic used to group related things. | 707 | Improper Neutralization |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 179 | Incorrect Behavior Order: Early Validation |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 622 | Improper Validation of Function Hook Arguments |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1173 | Improper Use of Validation Framework |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1284 | Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1285 | Improper Validation of Specified Index, Position, or Offset in Input |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1286 | Improper Validation of Syntactic Correctness of Input |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1287 | Improper Validation of Specified Type of Input |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1288 | Improper Validation of Consistency within Input |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1289 | Improper Validation of Unsafe Equivalence in Input |
| PeerOf | Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 345 | Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity |
| CanPrecede | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 22 | Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') |
| CanPrecede | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 41 | Improper Resolution of Path Equivalence |
| CanPrecede | Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 74 | Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') |
| CanPrecede | Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 119 | Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer |
| CanPrecede | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 770 | Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling |
| Nature | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | View View - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1003 | Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 129 | Improper Validation of Array Index |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 1284 | Improper Validation of Specified Quantity in Input |
| Nature | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Category Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1019 | Validate Inputs |
| Nature | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 15 | External Control of System or Configuration Setting |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 73 | External Control of File Name or Path |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 102 | Struts: Duplicate Validation Forms |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 103 | Struts: Incomplete validate() Method Definition |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 104 | Struts: Form Bean Does Not Extend Validation Class |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 105 | Struts: Form Field Without Validator |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 106 | Struts: Plug-in Framework not in Use |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 107 | Struts: Unused Validation Form |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 108 | Struts: Unvalidated Action Form |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 109 | Struts: Validator Turned Off |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 110 | Struts: Validator Without Form Field |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 111 | Direct Use of Unsafe JNI |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 112 | Missing XML Validation |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 113 | Improper Neutralization of CRLF Sequences in HTTP Headers ('HTTP Request/Response Splitting') |
| ParentOf | Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 114 | Process Control |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 117 | Improper Output Neutralization for Logs |
| ParentOf | Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 119 | Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 120 | Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 134 | Use of Externally-Controlled Format String |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 170 | Improper Null Termination |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 190 | Integer Overflow or Wraparound |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 466 | Return of Pointer Value Outside of Expected Range |
| ParentOf | Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 470 | Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection') |
| ParentOf | Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 785 | Use of Path Manipulation Function without Maximum-sized Buffer |
| Phase | Note |
|---|---|
| Architecture and Design | |
| Implementation |
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic. If a programmer believes that an attacker cannot modify certain inputs, then the programmer might not perform any input validation at all. For example, in web applications, many programmers believe that cookies and hidden form fields can not be modified from a web browser (CWE-472), although they can be altered using a proxy or a custom program. In a client-server architecture, the programmer might assume that client-side security checks cannot be bypassed, even when a custom client could be written that skips those checks (CWE-602). |
Class: Not Language-Specific (Often Prevalent)
Example 1
This example demonstrates a shopping interaction in which the user is free to specify the quantity of items to be purchased and a total is calculated.
The user has no control over the price variable, however the code does not prevent a negative value from being specified for quantity. If an attacker were to provide a negative value, then the user would have their account credited instead of debited.
Example 2
This example asks the user for a height and width of an m X n game board with a maximum dimension of 100 squares.
While this code checks to make sure the user cannot specify large, positive integers and consume too much memory, it does not check for negative values supplied by the user. As a result, an attacker can perform a resource consumption (CWE-400) attack against this program by specifying two, large negative values that will not overflow, resulting in a very large memory allocation (CWE-789) and possibly a system crash. Alternatively, an attacker can provide very large negative values which will cause an integer overflow (CWE-190) and unexpected behavior will follow depending on how the values are treated in the remainder of the program.
Example 3
The following example shows a PHP application in which the programmer attempts to display a user's birthday and homepage.
The programmer intended for $birthday to be in a date format and $homepage to be a valid URL. However, since the values are derived from an HTTP request, if an attacker can trick a victim into clicking a crafted URL with <script> tags providing the values for birthday and / or homepage, then the script will run on the client's browser when the web server echoes the content. Notice that even if the programmer were to defend the $birthday variable by restricting input to integers and dashes, it would still be possible for an attacker to provide a string of the form:
If this data were used in a SQL statement, it would treat the remainder of the statement as a comment. The comment could disable other security-related logic in the statement. In this case, encoding combined with input validation would be a more useful protection mechanism.
Furthermore, an XSS (CWE-79) attack or SQL injection (CWE-89) are just a few of the potential consequences when input validation is not used. Depending on the context of the code, CRLF Injection (CWE-93), Argument Injection (CWE-88), or Command Injection (CWE-77) may also be possible.
Example 4
The following example takes a user-supplied value to allocate an array of objects and then operates on the array.
This example attempts to build a list from a user-specified value, and even checks to ensure a non-negative value is supplied. If, however, a 0 value is provided, the code will build an array of size 0 and then try to store a new Widget in the first location, causing an exception to be thrown.
Example 5
This Android application has registered to handle a URL when sent an intent:
The application assumes the URL will always be included in the intent. When the URL is not present, the call to getStringExtra() will return null, thus causing a null pointer exception when length() is called.
Note: this is a curated list of examples for users to understand the variety of ways in which this weakness can be introduced. It is not a complete list of all CVEs that are related to this CWE entry.
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
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Improper input validation of HTTP requests in IP phone, as exploited in the wild per CISA KEV.
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Eval injection in Perl program using an ID that should only contain hyphens and numbers.
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SQL injection through an ID that was supposed to be numeric.
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lack of input validation in spreadsheet program leads to buffer overflows, integer overflows, array index errors, and memory corruption.
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insufficient validation enables XSS
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driver in security product allows code execution due to insufficient validation
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infinite loop from DNS packet with a label that points to itself
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infinite loop from DNS packet with a label that points to itself
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missing parameter leads to crash
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HTTP request with missing protocol version number leads to crash
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request with missing parameters leads to information exposure
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system crash with offset value that is inconsistent with packet size
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size field that is inconsistent with packet size leads to buffer over-read
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product uses a denylist to identify potentially dangerous content, allowing attacker to bypass a warning
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security bypass via an extra header
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empty packet triggers reboot
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incomplete denylist allows SQL injection
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NUL byte in theme name causes directory traversal impact to be worse
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kernel does not validate an incoming pointer before dereferencing it
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anti-virus product has insufficient input validation of hooked SSDT functions, allowing code execution
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anti-virus product allows DoS via zero-length field
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driver does not validate input from userland to the kernel
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kernel does not validate parameters sent in from userland, allowing code execution
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lack of validation of string length fields allows memory consumption or buffer over-read
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lack of validation of length field leads to infinite loop
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lack of validation of input to an IOCTL allows code execution
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zero-length attachment causes crash
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zero-length input causes free of uninitialized pointer
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crash via a malformed frame structure
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infinite loop from a long SMTP request
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router crashes with a malformed packet
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packet with invalid version number leads to NULL pointer dereference
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crash via multiple "." characters in file extension
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| Method | Details |
|---|---|
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Automated Static Analysis |
Some instances of improper input validation can be detected using automated static analysis. A static analysis tool might allow the user to specify which application-specific methods or functions perform input validation; the tool might also have built-in knowledge of validation frameworks such as Struts. The tool may then suppress or de-prioritize any associated warnings. This allows the analyst to focus on areas of the software in which input validation does not appear to be present. Except in the cases described in the previous paragraph, automated static analysis might not be able to recognize when proper input validation is being performed, leading to false positives - i.e., warnings that do not have any security consequences or require any code changes. |
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Manual Static Analysis |
When custom input validation is required, such as when enforcing business rules, manual analysis is necessary to ensure that the validation is properly implemented.
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Fuzzing |
Fuzzing techniques can be useful for detecting input validation errors. When unexpected inputs are provided to the software, the software should not crash or otherwise become unstable, and it should generate application-controlled error messages. If exceptions or interpreter-generated error messages occur, this indicates that the input was not detected and handled within the application logic itself.
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Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Cost effective for partial coverage:
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial |
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Manual Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Cost effective for partial coverage:
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial |
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Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Highly cost effective:
Effectiveness: High |
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Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Highly cost effective:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Effectiveness: High |
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Manual Static Analysis - Source Code |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Highly cost effective:
Effectiveness: High |
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Automated Static Analysis - Source Code |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Highly cost effective:
Effectiveness: High |
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Architecture or Design Review |
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful: Highly cost effective:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Effectiveness: High |
| Nature | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 635 | Weaknesses Originally Used by NVD from 2008 to 2016 |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 722 | OWASP Top Ten 2004 Category A1 - Unvalidated Input |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 738 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 5 - Integers (INT) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 742 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 9 - Memory Management (MEM) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 746 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 13 - Error Handling (ERR) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 747 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 14 - Miscellaneous (MSC) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 751 | 2009 Top 25 - Insecure Interaction Between Components |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 872 | CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 04 - Integers (INT) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 876 | CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 08 - Memory Management (MEM) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 883 | CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 49 - Miscellaneous (MSC) |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 994 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Tainted Input to Variable |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1005 | 7PK - Input Validation and Representation |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1163 | SEI CERT C Coding Standard - Guidelines 09. Input Output (FIO) |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1200 | Weaknesses in the 2019 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1337 | Weaknesses in the 2021 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1347 | OWASP Top Ten 2021 Category A03:2021 - Injection |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1350 | Weaknesses in the 2020 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1382 | ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1387 | Weaknesses in the 2022 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1406 | Comprehensive Categorization: Improper Input Validation |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1425 | Weaknesses in the 2023 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). | 1430 | Weaknesses in the 2024 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Weaknesses |
| Usage |
DISCOURAGED
(this CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
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| Reasons | Frequent Misuse, Frequent Misinterpretation, Abstraction | ||||||||||||||||||
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Rationale |
CWE-20 is commonly misused in low-information vulnerability reports when lower-level CWEs could be used instead, or when more details about the vulnerability are available [REF-1287]. It is not useful for trend analysis. It is also a level-1 Class (i.e., a child of a Pillar). Finally, it is often used when the root cause issue is related to how input is incorrectly transformed, instead of "validated" to be correct as-is. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Comments |
Within CWE, the "input validation" term focuses on the act of checking whether an input is already safe, which is different from other techniques that ensure safe processing of input. Carefully perform root-cause analysis to be sure that the issue is not due to techniques that attempt to transform potentially-dangerous input into something safe, such as filtering (CWE-790) - which attempts to remove dangerous inputs - or encoding/escaping (CWE-116), which attempts to ensure that the input is not misinterpreted when it is included in output to another component. If the issue is truly due to imroper input validation, consider using lower-level children such as Improper Use of Validation Framework (CWE-1173) or improper validation involving specific types or properties of input such as Specified Quantity (CWE-1284); Specified Index, Position, or Offset (CWE-1285); Syntactic Correctness (CWE-1286); Specified Type (CWE-1287); Consistency within Input (CWE-1288); or Unsafe Equivalence (CWE-1289). | ||||||||||||||||||
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Suggestions |
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Relationship
CWE-116 and CWE-20 have a close association because, depending on the nature of the structured message, proper input validation can indirectly prevent special characters from changing the meaning of a structured message. For example, by validating that a numeric ID field should only contain the 0-9 characters, the programmer effectively prevents injection attacks.
Multiple techniques exist to transform potentially dangerous input into something safe, which is different than "validation," which is a technique to check if an input is already safe. CWE users need to be cautious during root cause analysis to ensure that an issue is truly an input-validation problem.
Terminology
The "input validation" term is extremely common, but it is used in many different ways. In some cases its usage can obscure the real underlying weakness or otherwise hide chaining and composite relationships.
Some people use "input validation" as a general term that covers many different neutralization techniques for ensuring that input is appropriate, such as filtering, i.e., attempting to remove dangerous inputs (related to CWE-790); encoding/escaping, i.e., attempting to ensure that the input is not misinterpreted when it is included in output to another component (related to CWE-116); or canonicalization, which often indirectly removes otherwise-dangerous inputs. Others use the term in a narrower context to simply mean "checking if an input conforms to expectations without changing it." CWE uses this narrow interpretation.
Note that "input validation" has very different meanings to different people, or within different classification schemes. Caution must be used when referencing this CWE entry or mapping to it. For example, some weaknesses might involve inadvertently giving control to an attacker over an input when they should not be able to provide an input at all, but sometimes this is referred to as input validation.
Finally, it is important to emphasize that the distinctions between input validation and output escaping are often blurred. Developers must be careful to understand the difference, including how input validation is not always sufficient to prevent vulnerabilities, especially when less stringent data types must be supported, such as free-form text. Consider a SQL injection scenario in which a person's last name is inserted into a query. The name "O'Reilly" would likely pass the validation step since it is a common last name in the English language. However, this valid name cannot be directly inserted into the database because it contains the "'" apostrophe character, which would need to be escaped or otherwise transformed. In this case, removing the apostrophe might reduce the risk of SQL injection, but it would produce incorrect behavior because the wrong name would be recorded.
Maintenance
Maintenance
Maintenance
| Mapped Taxonomy Name | Node ID | Fit | Mapped Node Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Pernicious Kingdoms | Input validation and representation | ||
| OWASP Top Ten 2004 | A1 | CWE More Specific | Unvalidated Input |
| CERT C Secure Coding | ERR07-C | Prefer functions that support error checking over equivalent functions that don't | |
| CERT C Secure Coding | FIO30-C | CWE More Abstract | Exclude user input from format strings |
| CERT C Secure Coding | MEM10-C | Define and use a pointer validation function | |
| WASC | 20 | Improper Input Handling | |
| Software Fault Patterns | SFP25 | Tainted input to variable |
| CAPEC-ID | Attack Pattern Name |
|---|---|
| CAPEC-10 | Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables |
| CAPEC-101 | Server Side Include (SSI) Injection |
| CAPEC-104 | Cross Zone Scripting |
| CAPEC-108 | Command Line Execution through SQL Injection |
| CAPEC-109 | Object Relational Mapping Injection |
| CAPEC-110 | SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering |
| CAPEC-120 | Double Encoding |
| CAPEC-13 | Subverting Environment Variable Values |
| CAPEC-135 | Format String Injection |
| CAPEC-136 | LDAP Injection |
| CAPEC-14 | Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow |
| CAPEC-153 | Input Data Manipulation |
| CAPEC-182 | Flash Injection |
| CAPEC-209 | XSS Using MIME Type Mismatch |
| CAPEC-22 | Exploiting Trust in Client |
| CAPEC-23 | File Content Injection |
| CAPEC-230 | Serialized Data with Nested Payloads |
| CAPEC-231 | Oversized Serialized Data Payloads |
| CAPEC-24 | Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow |
| CAPEC-250 | XML Injection |
| CAPEC-261 | Fuzzing for garnering other adjacent user/sensitive data |
| CAPEC-267 | Leverage Alternate Encoding |
| CAPEC-28 | Fuzzing |
| CAPEC-3 | Using Leading 'Ghost' Character Sequences to Bypass Input Filters |
| CAPEC-31 | Accessing/Intercepting/Modifying HTTP Cookies |
| CAPEC-42 | MIME Conversion |
| CAPEC-43 | Exploiting Multiple Input Interpretation Layers |
| CAPEC-45 | Buffer Overflow via Symbolic Links |
| CAPEC-46 | Overflow Variables and Tags |
| CAPEC-47 | Buffer Overflow via Parameter Expansion |
| CAPEC-473 | Signature Spoof |
| CAPEC-52 | Embedding NULL Bytes |
| CAPEC-53 | Postfix, Null Terminate, and Backslash |
| CAPEC-588 | DOM-Based XSS |
| CAPEC-63 | Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) |
| CAPEC-64 | Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic |
| CAPEC-664 | Server Side Request Forgery |
| CAPEC-67 | String Format Overflow in syslog() |
| CAPEC-7 | Blind SQL Injection |
| CAPEC-71 | Using Unicode Encoding to Bypass Validation Logic |
| CAPEC-72 | URL Encoding |
| CAPEC-73 | User-Controlled Filename |
| CAPEC-78 | Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding |
| CAPEC-79 | Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding |
| CAPEC-8 | Buffer Overflow in an API Call |
| CAPEC-80 | Using UTF-8 Encoding to Bypass Validation Logic |
| CAPEC-81 | Web Server Logs Tampering |
| CAPEC-83 | XPath Injection |
| CAPEC-85 | AJAX Footprinting |
| CAPEC-88 | OS Command Injection |
| CAPEC-9 | Buffer Overflow in Local Command-Line Utilities |
| Submissions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Submission Date | Submitter | Organization | |
|
2006年07月19日
(CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日) |
7 Pernicious Kingdoms | ||
| Contributions | |||
| Contribution Date | Contributor | Organization | |
|
2024年02月29日
(CWE 4.17, 2025年04月03日) |
Abhi Balakrishnan | ||
| Contributed usability diagram concepts used by the CWE team. | |||
| Modifications | |||
| Modification Date | Modifier | Organization | |
|
2025年09月09日
(CWE 4.18, 2025年09月09日) |
CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Detection_Factors, References | |||
|
2025年04月03日
(CWE 4.17, 2025年04月03日) |
CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Common_Consequences, Description, Diagram, Mapping_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, Relationship_Notes, Terminology_Notes | |||
|
2024年11月19日
(CWE 4.16, 2024年11月19日) |
CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
|
2024年07月16日
(CWE 4.15, 2024年07月16日) |
CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Observed_Examples | |||
| 2023年10月26日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Observed_Examples | |||
| 2023年06月29日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Mapping_Notes, Relationships | |||
| 2023年04月27日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated References, Relationships | |||
| 2022年10月13日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated References, Relationships | |||
| 2022年06月28日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Observed_Examples, Relationships | |||
| 2022年04月28日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2021年10月28日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2021年07月20日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2021年03月15日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Description, Potential_Mitigations | |||
| 2020年08月20日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2020年06月25日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Maintenance_Notes, Observed_Examples, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationship_Notes, Relationships, Research_Gaps, Terminology_Notes | |||
| 2020年02月24日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations, References, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2019年09月19日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2019年06月20日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2019年01月03日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2018年03月27日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated References | |||
| 2017年11月08日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Modes_of_Introduction, References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2017年05月03日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2017年01月19日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2015年12月07日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2014年07月30日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Detection_Factors, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2014年02月18日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Demonstrative_Examples, Related_Attack_Patterns | |||
| 2013年07月17日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2013年02月21日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2012年10月30日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations | |||
| 2012年05月11日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Demonstrative_Examples, References, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | |||
| 2011年09月13日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2011年06月01日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Relationship_Notes | |||
| 2011年03月29日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Observed_Examples | |||
| 2010年12月13日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description | |||
| 2010年09月27日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations, Relationships | |||
| 2010年06月21日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations, Research_Gaps, Terminology_Notes | |||
| 2010年04月05日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns | |||
| 2010年02月16日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Detection_Factors, Potential_Mitigations, References, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2009年12月28日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Detection_Factors | |||
| 2009年10月29日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Maintenance_Notes, Modes_of_Introduction, Observed_Examples, Relationships, Research_Gaps, Terminology_Notes | |||
| 2009年07月27日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships | |||
| 2009年05月27日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Related_Attack_Patterns | |||
| 2009年03月10日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Description, Potential_Mitigations | |||
| 2009年01月12日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Likelihood_of_Exploit, Name, Observed_Examples, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationship_Notes, Relationships | |||
| 2008年11月24日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2008年09月08日 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | |
| updated Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings | |||
| 2008年08月15日 | Veracode | ||
| Suggested OWASP Top Ten 2004 mapping | |||
| 2008年07月01日 | Eric Dalci | Cigital | |
| updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction | |||
| Previous Entry Names | |||
| Change Date | Previous Entry Name | ||
| 2009年01月12日 | Insufficient Input Validation | ||
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