Unquoted Search Path or Element| ID: 428 | Date: (C)2012-05-14 (M)2022-10-10 |
| Type: weakness | Status: DRAFT |
| Abstraction Type: Base |
Description
The product uses a search path that contains an unquoted
element, in which the element contains whitespace or other separators. This can
cause the product to access resources in a parent path.
Extended DescriptionIf a malicious individual has access to the file system, it is possible to
elevate privileges by inserting such a file as "C:\Program.exe" to be run by
a privileged program making use of WinExec.
Applicable PlatformsLanguage Class: AllOperating System: SometimesOperating System: Windows 2000Operating System: SometimesOperating System: Windows XPOperating System: SometimesOperating System: Windows VistaOperating System: RarelyOperating System: Mac OS X
Time Of Introduction
Related Attack Patterns
Common Consequences
| Scope | Technical Impact | Notes |
|---|
| ConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability | Execute unauthorized code or
commands | |
Detection MethodsNone
Potential Mitigations
| Phase | Strategy | Description | Effectiveness | Notes |
|---|
| Implementation | | Properly quote the full search path before executing a program on the
system. | | |
| Implementation | Input Validation | Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input
validation strategy, i.e., use a whitelist 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
(i.e., do not rely on a blacklist). A blacklist 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, blacklists can be useful for detecting potential
attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be
rejected outright. | | |
| Implementation | Input Validation | 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 whitelist validation
schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been
checked. | | |
Relationships
| Related CWE | Type | View | Chain |
|---|
| CWE-428 ChildOf CWE-893 | Category | CWE-888 | |
Demonstrative ExamplesNone
Observed Examples
- CVE-2005-1185 : Small handful of others. Program doesn't quote the "C:\Program Files\" path when calling a program to be executed - or any other path with a directory or file whose name contains a space - so attacker can put a malicious program.exe into C:.
- CVE-2005-2938 : CreateProcess() and CreateProcessAsUser() can be misused by applications to allow "program.exe" style attacks in C:
- CVE-2000-1128 : Applies to "Common Files" folder, with a malicious common.exe, instead of "Program Files"/program.exe.
For more examples, refer to CVE relations in the bottom box.
White Box Definitions None
Black Box Definitions None
Taxynomy Mappings
| Taxynomy | Id | Name | Fit |
|---|
| PLOVER | | Unquoted Search Path or Element | |
References:
- Mark Dowd John McDonald Justin Schuh .The Art of Software Security Assessment 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. Section:'Chapter 11, "Process Loading", Page 654.'. Published on 2006.
