CWE-99: Improper Control of Resource Identifiers ('Resource Injection')Weakness ID: 99 Vulnerability Mapping:
ALLOWEDThis CWE ID could be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities in limited situations requiring careful review (with careful review of mapping notes) Abstraction: ClassClass - 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. |
Description The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not restrict or incorrectly restricts the input before it is used as an identifier for a resource that may be outside the intended sphere of control. Extended Description A resource injection issue occurs when the following two conditions are met: - An attacker can specify the identifier used to access a system resource. For example, an attacker might be able to specify part of the name of a file to be opened or a port number to be used.
- By specifying the resource, the attacker gains a capability that would not otherwise be permitted. For example, the program may give the attacker the ability to overwrite the specified file, run with a configuration controlled by the attacker, or transmit sensitive information to a third-party server.
This may enable an attacker to access or modify otherwise protected system resources. Alternate Terms
Insecure Direct Object Reference: | OWASP uses this term, although it is effectively the same as resource injection. |
Common Consequences This 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.Scope | Impact | Likelihood |
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Confidentiality Integrity
| Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories An attacker could gain access to or modify sensitive data or system resources. This could allow access to protected files or directories including configuration files and files containing sensitive information. | |
Potential Mitigations
Phase: 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, it can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright. |
Relationships 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" (CWE-1000) Nature | Type | ID | Name |
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ChildOf | 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') | ParentOf | 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. | 641 | Improper Restriction of Names for Files and Other Resources | ParentOf | 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. | 694 | Use of Multiple Resources with Duplicate Identifier | ParentOf | 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. | 914 | Improper Control of Dynamically-Identified Variables | PeerOf | 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. | 706 | Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference | CanAlsoBe | 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 |
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008) Nature | Type | ID | Name |
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MemberOf | Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1019 | Validate Inputs |
Modes Of Introduction The 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 |
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Architecture and Design | | Implementation | REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic. |
Likelihood Of Exploit Demonstrative Examples Example 1 The following Java code uses input from an HTTP request to create a file name. The programmer has not considered the possibility that an attacker could provide a file name such as "../../tomcat/conf/server.xml", which causes the application to delete one of its own configuration files. (bad code) Example Language: Java
String rName = request.getParameter("reportName"); File rFile = new File("/usr/local/apfr/reports/" + rName); ... rFile.delete();
Example 2 The following code uses input from the command line to determine which file to open and echo back to the user. If the program runs with privileges and malicious users can create soft links to the file, they can use the program to read the first part of any file on the system. (bad code) Example Language: C++
ifstream ifs(argv[0]); string s; ifs >> s; cout << s;
The kind of resource the data affects indicates the kind of content that may be dangerous. For example, data containing special characters like period, slash, and backslash, are risky when used in methods that interact with the file system. (Resource injection, when it is related to file system resources, sometimes goes by the name "path manipulation.") Similarly, data that contains URLs and URIs is risky for functions that create remote connections. Observed Examples Reference | Description |
| chain: mobile OS verifies cryptographic signature of file in an archive, but then installs a different file with the same name that is also listed in the archive. |
Weakness Ordinalities Ordinality | Description |
Primary | (where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses) |
Detection Methods
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.) |
Memberships This 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. Vulnerability Mapping Notes Usage: ALLOWED-WITH-REVIEW (this CWE ID could be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities in limited situations requiring careful review) | Reason: Abstraction | Rationale: This CWE entry is a Class and might have Base-level children that would be more appropriate | Comments: Examine children of this entry to see if there is a better fit |
Notes Relationship Resource injection that involves resources stored on the filesystem goes by the name path manipulation ( CWE-73). Maintenance The relationship between CWE-99 and CWE-610 needs further investigation and clarification. They might be duplicates. CWE-99 "Resource Injection," as originally defined in Seven Pernicious Kingdoms taxonomy, emphasizes the "identifier used to access a system resource" such as a file name or port number, yet it explicitly states that the "resource injection" term does not apply to "path manipulation," which effectively identifies the path at which a resource can be found and could be considered to be one aspect of a resource identifier. Also, CWE-610 effectively covers any type of resource, whether that resource is at the system layer, the application layer, or the code layer. Taxonomy Mappings Mapped Taxonomy Name | Node ID | Fit | Mapped Node Name |
7 Pernicious Kingdoms | | | Resource Injection |
Software Fault Patterns | SFP24 | | Tainted input to command |
OMG ASCSM | ASCSM-CWE-99 | | |
References Content History Submissions |
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Submission Date | Submitter | Organization |
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2006-07-19 (CWE Draft 3, 2006-07-19) | 7 Pernicious Kingdoms | | | Modifications |
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Modification Date | Modifier | Organization |
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2008-07-01 | Eric Dalci | Cigital | updated Time_of_Introduction | 2008-08-01 | | KDM Analytics | added/updated white box definitions | 2008-09-08 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings, Weakness_Ordinalities | 2009-05-27 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Description, Name | 2009-07-17 | KDM Analytics | | Improved the White_Box_Definition | 2009-07-27 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated White_Box_Definitions | 2011-06-01 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Other_Notes | 2012-05-11 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Relationships | 2012-10-30 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Potential_Mitigations | 2013-02-21 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Alternate_Terms, Maintenance_Notes, Other_Notes, Relationships | 2013-07-17 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2014-06-23 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Alternate_Terms, Description, Relationship_Notes, Relationships | 2014-07-30 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | 2015-12-07 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2017-01-19 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2017-05-03 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships | 2017-11-08 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Applicable_Platforms, Causal_Nature, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships, White_Box_Definitions | 2019-01-03 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings | 2019-06-20 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2020-02-24 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships, Type | 2020-08-20 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2020-12-10 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2021-10-28 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2023-01-31 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Description | 2023-04-27 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Detection_Factors, Relationships | 2023-06-29 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Mapping_Notes | 2023-10-26 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Observed_Examples | Previous Entry Names |
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Change Date | Previous Entry Name |
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2008-04-11 | Resource Injection | | 2009-05-27 | Insufficient Control of Resource Identifiers (aka 'Resource Injection') | |
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