CWE-797: Only Filtering Special Elements at an Absolute Position
Learn about CWE-797 (Only Filtering Special Elements at an Absolute Position), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Only Filtering Special Elements at an Absolute Position?
• Overview: This vulnerability occurs when a software application checks only a specific position in data for special elements (such as malicious inputs) and ignores potential threats in other parts of the data, leading to incomplete validation and increased risk of exploitation.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can place malicious payloads in parts of the data that are not inspected by the position-specific filter.
- Common attack patterns include inserting unexpected inputs in parts of the data stream that bypass the limited validation check.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences of successful exploitation include unauthorized access or manipulation of data.
- Potential cascading effects could lead to broader system compromise if the malicious input is processed downstream.
- Business impact could involve data breaches, loss of customer trust, and legal repercussions.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes involve implementing thorough validation across the entire data set, not just specific positions.
- Security best practices include adopting whitelisting approaches and using comprehensive data validation libraries.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include static and dynamic analysis tools that can detect insufficient input validation practices.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not specified