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)
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- 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