CWE-652: Improper Neutralization of Data within XQuery Expressions ('XQuery Injection')
Official CWE-652 CWE context with Glexia analysis, remediation guidance, related CVEs, and ATT&CK context.
Glexia's Take
CWE-652: Improper Neutralization of Data within XQuery Expressions ('XQuery Injection')
Improper Neutralization of Data within XQuery Expressions ('XQuery Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Executive Impact
- Confidentiality: Read Application Data: An attacker might be able to read sensitive information from the XML database.
Developer Pattern
CWE-652 is the kind of defect developers can usually prevent with explicit validation, safer framework defaults, and tests that exercise hostile input or unsafe state transitions.
Confidence
high confidence from CWE-652, 4.20.
Official CWE Definition
CWE-652: Improper Neutralization of Data within XQuery Expressions ('XQuery Injection')
The product uses external input to dynamically construct an XQuery expression used to retrieve data from an XML database, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes that input. This allows an attacker to control the structure of the query.
The net effect is that the attacker will have control over the information selected from the XML database and may use that ability to control application flow, modify logic, retrieve unauthorized data, or bypass important checks (e.g. authentication).
Developer And Remediation Guidance
How teams prevent and detect this weakness
Causes
- An attacker may pass XQuery expressions embedded in an otherwise standard XML document. The attacker tunnels through the application entry point to target the resource access layer. The string below is an example of an attacker accessing the accounts.xml to request the service provider send all user names back. doc(accounts.xml)//user[name='*'] The attacks that are possible through XQuery are difficult to predict, if the data is not validated prior to executing the XQL.
Remediation
- Implementation: Use parameterized queries. This will help ensure separation between data plane and control plane.
- Implementation: Properly validate user input. Reject data where appropriate, filter where appropriate and escape where appropriate. Make sure input that will be used in XQL queries is safe in that context.
Detection
- Code review
- SAST
- DAST
- Focused regression tests
Mappings
Related CVEs, CWEs, and ATT&CK context
Related CWEs
ATT&CK Relevance
ATT&CK relevance is shown only when reviewed or responsibly inferred.