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Home > CWE List > CWE-69: Improper Handling of Windows ::DATA Alternate Data Stream (4.18)
ID
CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-69: Improper Handling of Windows ::DATA Alternate Data Stream

Weakness ID: 69
Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: 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.
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Description
The product does not properly prevent access to, or detect usage of, alternate data streams (ADS).
Extended Description
An attacker can use an ADS to hide information about a file (e.g. size, the name of the process) from a system or file browser tools such as Windows Explorer and 'dir' at the command line utility. Alternately, the attacker might be able to bypass intended access restrictions for the associated data fork.
Common Consequences
Section HelpThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
Impact Details

Bypass Protection Mechanism; Hide Activities; Other

Scope: Access Control, Non-Repudiation, Other

Potential Mitigations
Phase(s) Mitigation

Testing
Software tools are capable of finding ADSs on your system.

Implementation
Ensure that the source code correctly parses the filename to read or write to the correct stream.
Relationships
Section Help This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.
Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (View-1000)
Nature Type ID Name
ChildOf 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. 66 Improper Handling of File Names that Identify Virtual Resources
Background Details
Alternate data streams (ADS) were first implemented in the Windows NT operating system to provide compatibility between NTFS and the Macintosh Hierarchical File System (HFS). In HFS, data and resource forks are used to store information about a file. The data fork provides information about the contents of the file while the resource fork stores metadata such as file type.
Modes Of Introduction
Section HelpThe different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.
Phase Note
Implementation
Applicable Platforms
Section HelpThis listing shows possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.
Languages

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)

Operating Systems

Class: Windows (Undetermined Prevalence)

Selected Observed Examples

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
In IIS, remote attackers can obtain source code for ASP files by appending "::$DATA" to the URL.
Product does not properly record file sizes if they are stored in alternative data streams, which allows users to bypass quota restrictions.
Functional Areas
  • File Processing
Affected Resources
  • System Process
  • File or Directory
Memberships
Section HelpThis MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 904 SFP Primary Cluster: Malware
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1404 Comprehensive Categorization: File Handling
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Usage ALLOWED
(this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
Reason Acceptable-Use

Rationale

This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Comments

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
Notes

Theoretical

This and similar problems exist because the same resource can have multiple identifiers that dictate which behavior can be performed on the resource.
Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy Name Node ID Fit Mapped Node Name
PLOVER Windows ::DATA alternate data stream
References
[REF-562] Don Parker. "Windows NTFS Alternate Data Streams". 2005年02月16日.
<https://seclists.org/basics/2005/Feb/312>. (URL validated: 2023年04月07日)
[REF-7] Michael Howard and David LeBlanc. "Writing Secure Code". 2nd Edition. Microsoft Press. 2002年12月04日.
<https://www.microsoftpressstore.com/store/writing-secure-code-9780735617223>.
Content History
Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2006年07月19日
(CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日) 		PLOVER
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 Affected_Resources, Functional_Areas
2023年06月29日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023年04月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction
2023年01月31日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description
2020年02月24日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2019年01月03日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2018年03月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References
2017年11月08日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Applicable_Platforms, References, 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 Observed_Examples, References, Relationships
2011年06月01日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2010年12月13日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Name
2010年04月05日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2009年10月29日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Other_Notes, Theoretical_Notes
2008年10月14日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description
2008年09月08日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Applicable_Platforms, Background_Details, Description, Relationships, Other_Notes, References, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008年07月01日 Eric Dalci Cigital
updated Time_of_Introduction
Previous Entry Names
Change Date Previous Entry Name
2008年04月11日 Windows ::DATA Alternate Data Stream
2010年12月13日 Failure to Handle Windows ::DATA Alternate Data Stream
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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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