CWEweakness

CWE-67 Improper Handling of Windows Device Names

High Official page ↗
Abstraction
Variant
Structure
Simple
Status
Incomplete
Likelihood of exploit
High
Languages
Not Language-Specific
CWE version
5.0

Description

The product constructs pathnames from user input, but it does not handle or incorrectly handles a pathname containing a Windows device name such as AUX or CON. This typically leads to denial of service or an information exposure when the application attempts to process the pathname as a regular file.

Common consequences

• Availability, Confidentiality, Other: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, Read Application Data, Other — Not properly handling virtual filenames (e.g. AUX, CON, PRN, COM1, LPT1) can result in different types of vulnerabilities. In some cases an attacker can request a device via injection of a virtual filename in a URL, which may cause an error that leads to a denial of service or an error page that reveals sensitive information. A product that allows device names to bypass filtering runs the risk of an attacker injecting malicious code in a file with the name of a device.

Potential mitigations

• [Implementation] Be familiar with the device names in the operating system where your system is deployed. Check input for these device names.

Observed examples

• CVE-2002-0106: Server allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a series of requests to .JSP files that contain an MS-DOS device name. • CVE-2002-0200: Server allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via an HTTP request for an MS-DOS device name. • CVE-2002-1052: Product allows remote attackers to use MS-DOS device names in HTTP requests to cause a denial of service or obtain the physical path of the server. • CVE-2001-0493: Server allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a URL that contains an MS-DOS device name. • CVE-2001-0558: Server allows a remote attacker to create a denial of service via a URL request which includes a MS-DOS device name. • CVE-2000-0168: Microsoft Windows 9x operating systems allow an attacker to cause a denial of service via a pathname that includes file device names, aka the "DOS Device in Path Name" vulnerability. • CVE-2001-0492: Server allows remote attackers to determine the physical path of the server via a URL containing MS-DOS device names. • CVE-2004-0552: Product does not properly handle files whose names contain reserved MS-DOS device names, which can allow malicious code to bypass detection when it is installed, copied, or executed. • CVE-2005-2195: Server allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a URL with a filename containing a .cgi extension and an MS-DOS device name.

Related

Observed example · CVE (9)

  • CVE-2005-2195 Apple Darwin Streaming Server 5.5 and earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a URL with a… vulnerability
  • CVE-2004-0552 Sophos Small Business Suite 1.00 on Windows does not properly handle files whose names contain reserved MS-DOS device names such as (1)… vulnerability
  • CVE-2002-1052 Jigsaw 2.2.1 on Windows systems allows remote attackers to use MS-DOS device names in HTTP requests to (1) cause a denial of service using… vulnerability
  • CVE-2002-0200 Cyberstop Web Server for Windows 0.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via an HTTP request for an MS-DOS device name. vulnerability
  • CVE-2002-0106 BEA Systems Weblogic Server 6.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a series of requests to .JSP files that contain an… vulnerability
  • CVE-2001-0558 T. vulnerability
  • CVE-2001-0492 Netcruiser Web server version 0.1.2.8 and earlier allows remote attackers to determine the physical path of the server via a URL containing… vulnerability
  • CVE-2001-0493 Small HTTP server 2.03 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a URL that contains an MS-DOS device name such as aux. vulnerability
  • CVE-2000-0168 Microsoft Windows 9x operating systems allow an attacker to cause a denial of service via a pathname that includes file device names, aka… vulnerability

Child of · CWE (1)

  • CWE-66 Improper Handling of File Names that Identify Virtual Resources weakness

Referenced by CVE · weakness (7)

  • CVE-2026-102598 Werkzeug is a comprehensive WSGI web application library. vulnerability
  • CVE-2026-17545 On Windows, PHP's filesystem and stream APIs do not reject reserved device names such as CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1 to COM9, LPT1 to LPT9,… vulnerability
  • CVE-2026-27199 Werkzeug is a comprehensive WSGI web application library. vulnerability
  • CVE-2026-21860 Werkzeug is a comprehensive WSGI web application library. vulnerability
  • CVE-2025-66221 Werkzeug is a comprehensive WSGI web application library. vulnerability
  • CVE-2024-51745 Wasmtime is a fast and secure runtime for WebAssembly. vulnerability
  • CVE-2024-35197 gitoxide is a pure Rust implementation of Git. vulnerability