The product does not ensure or incorrectly ensures that structured messages or data are well-formed and that certain security properties are met before being read from an upstream component or sent to a downstream component.
If a message is malformed, it may cause the message to be incorrectly interpreted.
Neutralization is an abstract term for any technique that ensures that input (and output) conforms with expectations and is "safe." This can be done by:
This weakness typically applies in cases where the product prepares a control message that another process must act on, such as a command or query, and malicious input that was intended as data, can enter the control plane instead. However, this weakness also applies to more general cases where there are not always control implications.
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | V | 1000 | Research Concepts |
| ParentOf | Allowed-with-Review | C | 116 | Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output |
| ParentOf | Discouraged | C | 138 | Improper Neutralization of Special Elements |
| ParentOf | Discouraged | B | 1426 | Improper Validation of Generative AI Output |
| ParentOf | Allowed | B | 170 | Improper Null Termination |
| ParentOf | Allowed-with-Review | C | 172 | Encoding Error |
| ParentOf | Allowed | B | 182 | Collapse of Data into Unsafe Value |
| ParentOf | Discouraged | C | 20 | Improper Input Validation |
| ParentOf | Allowed | B | 240 | Improper Handling of Inconsistent Structural Elements |
| ParentOf | Allowed-with-Review | C | 228 | Improper Handling of Syntactically Invalid Structure |
| ParentOf | Allowed | B | 463 | Deletion of Data Structure Sentinel |
| ParentOf | Discouraged | C | 74 | Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 990 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Tainted Input to Command |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1020 | Verify Message Integrity |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1370 | ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1407 | Comprehensive Categorization: Improper Neutralization |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-294 | Not Language-Specific Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-298 | Not OS-Specific(os class) Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-301 | Not Architecture-Specific (architecture class) Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-307 | Not Technology-Specific (technology class) Weaknesses |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-312 | Other (impact) |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1020 | Verify Message Integrity |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1370 | ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 990 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Tainted Input to Command |
| Scope | Likelihood | Impact | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | N/A | Other | N/A |
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
| Reference | Description |
|---|
| Ordinality | Description |
|---|
This CWE entry is extremely high-level, a Pillar.
Consider children or descendants of this entry instead.
Concepts such as validation, data transformation, and neutralization are being refined, so relationships between CWE-20 and other entries such as CWE-707 may change in future versions, along with an update to the Vulnerability Theory document.
N/A
| Taxonomy Name | Entry ID | Fit | Entry Name |
|---|
| ID | Name |
|---|---|
| CAPEC-250 | XML Injection |
| CAPEC-276 | Inter-component Protocol Manipulation |
| CAPEC-277 | Data Interchange Protocol Manipulation |
| CAPEC-278 | Web Services Protocol Manipulation |
| CAPEC-279 | SOAP Manipulation |
| CAPEC-3 | Using Leading 'Ghost' Character Sequences to Bypass Input Filters |
| CAPEC-43 | Exploiting Multiple Input Interpretation Layers |
| CAPEC-468 | Generic Cross-Browser Cross-Domain Theft |
| CAPEC-52 | Embedding NULL Bytes |
| CAPEC-53 | Postfix, Null Terminate, and Backslash |
| CAPEC-64 | Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic |
| CAPEC-7 | Blind SQL Injection |
| CAPEC-78 | Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding |
| CAPEC-79 | Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding |
| CAPEC-83 | XPath Injection |
| CAPEC-84 | XQuery Injection |