CWEweakness
CWE-450 Multiple Interpretations of UI Input
- Abstraction
- Base
- Structure
- Simple
- Status
- Draft
- Languages
- Not Language-Specific
- CWE version
- 5.0
Description
The UI has multiple interpretations of user input but does not prompt the user when it selects the less secure interpretation.
Common consequences
• Other: Varies by Context
Potential mitigations
• [Implementation] 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, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
• [Implementation] Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
Related
Child of · CWE (1)
- CWE-357 Insufficient UI Warning of Dangerous Operations weakness
Referenced by CVE · weakness (3)
- CVE-2024-25858 In Foxit PDF Reader before 2024.1 and PDF Editor before 2024.1, code execution via JavaScript could occur because of an unoptimized prompt… vulnerability
- CVE-2022-20863 A vulnerability in the messaging interface of Cisco Webex App, formerly Webex Teams, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to… vulnerability
- CVE-2021-1242 A vulnerability in Cisco Webex Teams could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to manipulate file names within the messaging… vulnerability