The application uses multiple validation forms with the same
name, which might cause the Struts Validator to validate a form that the
programmer does not expect.
Extended Description
If two validation forms have the same name, the Struts Validator
arbitrarily chooses one of the forms to use for input validation and
discards the other. This decision might not correspond to the programmer's
expectations, possibly leading to resultant weaknesses. Moreover, it
indicates that the validation logic is not up-to-date, and can indicate that
other, more subtle validation errors are present.
Time of Introduction
Implementation
Applicable Platforms
Languages
Java
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
Two validation forms with the same name.
(Bad Code)
XML
<form-validation>
<formset>
<form name="ProjectForm"> ...
</form>
<form name="ProjectForm"> ...
</form>
</formset>
</form-validation>
It is critically important that validation logic be maintained and
kept in sync with the rest of the application.
Potential Mitigations
Phase
Description
Implementation
The DTD or schema validation will not catch the duplicate occurrence
of the same form name. To find the issue in the implementation, manual
checks or automated static analysis could be applied to the xml
configuration files.
Other Notes
Unchecked input is the root cause of some of today's worst and most common
software security problems. Cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and process
control vulnerabilities can all stem from incomplete or absent input
validation. Although J2EE applications are not generally susceptible to
memory corruption attacks, if a J2EE application interfaces with native code
that does not perform array bounds checking, an attacker may be able to use
an input validation mistake in the J2EE application to launch a buffer
overflow attack.
Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality
Description
Primary
(where the
weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
Description
