CWE-706: Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or Reference

Causes

• The following code, victim.php, attempts to include a function contained in a separate PHP page on the server. It builds the path to the file by using the supplied 'module_name' parameter and appending the string '/function.php' to it. The problem with the above code is that the value of $dir is not restricted in any way, and a malicious user could manipulate the 'module_name' parameter to force inclusion of an unanticipated file. For example, an attacker could request the above PHP page (example.php) with a 'module_name' of "http://malicious.example.com" by using the following request string:,Upon receiving this request, the code would set 'module_name' to the value "http://malicious.example.com" and would attempt to include http://malicious.example.com/function.php, along with any malicious code it contains.,For the sake of this example, assume that the malicious version of function.php looks like the following:,An attacker could now go a step further in our example and provide a request string as follows:,The code will attempt to include the malicious function.php file from the remote site. In turn, this file executes the command specified in the 'cmd' parameter from the query string. The end result is an attempt by tvictim.php to execute the potentially malicious command, in this case:,Note that the above PHP example can be mitigated by setting allow_url_fopen to false, although this will not fully protect the code. See potential mitigations.
• This script intends to read a user-supplied file from the current directory. The user inputs the relative path to the file and the script uses Python's os.path.join() function to combine the path to the current working directory with the provided path to the specified file. This results in an absolute path to the desired file. If the file does not exist when the script attempts to read it, an error is printed to the user. However, if the user supplies an absolute path, the os.path.join() function will discard the path to the current working directory and use only the absolute path provided. For example, if the current working directory is /home/user/documents, but the user inputs /etc/passwd, os.path.join() will use only /etc/passwd, as it is considered an absolute path. In the above scenario, this would cause the script to access and read the /etc/passwd file.,The constructed path string uses os.sep to add the appropriate separation character for the given operating system (e.g. '\' or '/') and the call to os.path.normpath() removes any additional slashes that may have been entered - this may occur particularly when using a Windows path. The path is checked against an expected directory (/home/cwe/documents); otherwise, an attacker could provide relative path sequences like ".." to cause normpath() to generate paths that are outside the intended directory (CWE-23). By putting the pieces of the path string together in this fashion, the script avoids a call to os.path.join() and any potential issues that might arise if an absolute path is entered. With this version of the script, if the current working directory is /home/cwe/documents, and the user inputs /etc/passwd, the resulting path will be /home/cwe/documents/etc/passwd. The user is therefore contained within the current working directory as intended.

Remediation

• Use safe APIs
• Centralize the control
• Add regression tests
• Review logs and telemetry for attempted abuse

Detection

• Automated Static Analysis: Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Related CWEs

• CWE-178: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
• CWE-178: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity
• CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
• CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
• CWE-386: Symbolic Name not Mapping to Correct Object
• CWE-41: Improper Resolution of Path Equivalence
• CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
• CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
• CWE-66: Improper Handling of File Names that Identify Virtual Resources
• CWE-664: Improper Control of a Resource Through its Lifetime
• CWE-99: Improper Control of Resource Identifiers ('Resource Injection')
• CWE-827: Improper Control of Document Type Definition

Related CVEs

Related CVE mappings appear after CVE records are cross-indexed.

ATT&CK Relevance

ATT&CK relevance is shown only when reviewed or responsibly inferred.