CWEweakness
CWE-103 Struts: Incomplete validate() Method Definition
- Abstraction
- Variant
- Structure
- Simple
- Status
- Draft
- Languages
- Java
- CWE version
- 5.0
Description
The product has a validator form that either does not define a validate() method, or defines a validate() method but does not call super.validate().
Common consequences
• Other: Unexpected State, Varies by Context — If the code does not call super.validate(), the Validation Framework cannot check the contents of the form against a validation form. In other words, the validation framework will be disabled for the given form. Disabling the validation framework for a form exposes the product to numerous types of attacks.
• Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Other: Other — Although J2EE applications are not generally susceptible to memory corruption attacks, if a J2EE application interfaces with native code that does not perform array bounds checking, an attacker may be able to use an input validation mistake in the J2EE application to launch a buffer overflow attack.
Potential mitigations
• [Implementation] Implement the validate() method and call super.validate() within that method.
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.)
Related
Child of · CWE (2)
Referenced by OWASP · mapped cwe (1)
- A05:2025 Injection Top 10 2025