CWE-103: Struts: Incomplete validate() Method Definition
View customized information:
For users who are interested in more notional aspects of a weakness. Example: educators, technical writers, and project/program managers.
For users who are concerned with the practical application and details about the nature of a weakness and how to prevent it from happening. Example: tool developers, security researchers, pen-testers, incident response analysts.
For users who are mapping an issue to CWE/CAPEC IDs, i.e., finding the most appropriate CWE for a specific issue (e.g., a CVE record). Example: tool developers, security researchers.
For users who wish to see all available information for the CWE/CAPEC entry.
For users who want to customize what details are displayed.
×
Edit Custom FilterThe product has a validator form that either does not define a validate() method, or defines a validate() method but does not call super.validate().
If the code does not call super.validate(), the Validation Framework cannot check the contents of the form against a validation form. In other words, the validation framework will be disabled for the given form.
![]()
![]() ![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Example 1 In the following Java example the class RegistrationForm is a Struts framework ActionForm Bean that will maintain user input data from a registration webpage for an online business site. The user will enter registration data and the RegistrationForm bean in the Struts framework will maintain the user data. Tthe RegistrationForm class implements the validate method to validate the user input entered into the form. (bad code)
Example Language: Java
public class RegistrationForm extends org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm {
// private variables for registration form
private String name; private String email; ... public RegistrationForm() { super(); }public ActionErrors validate(ActionMapping mapping, HttpServletRequest request) { ActionErrors errors = new ActionErrors(); }if (getName() == null || getName().length() < 1) { errors.add("name", new ActionMessage("error.name.required")); }return errors; // getter and setter methods for private variables
... } Although the validate method is implemented in this example the method does not call the validate method of the ValidatorForm parent class with a call super.validate(). Without the call to the parent validator class only the custom validation will be performed and the default validation will not be performed. The following example shows that the validate method of the ValidatorForm class is called within the implementation of the validate method. (good code)
Example Language: Java
public class RegistrationForm extends org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm {
// private variables for registration form
private String name; private String email; ... public RegistrationForm() { super(); }public ActionErrors validate(ActionMapping mapping, HttpServletRequest request) { ActionErrors errors = super.validate(mapping, request);
if (errors == null) { errors = new ActionErrors(); }if (getName() == null || getName().length() < 1) { errors.add("name", new ActionMessage("error.name.required")); }return errors; // getter and setter methods for private variables }...
![]()
Relationship
This could introduce other weaknesses related to missing input validation.
Maintenance
The current description implies a loose composite of two separate weaknesses, so this node might need to be split or converted into a low-level category.
More information is available — Please edit the custom filter or select a different filter. |
Use of the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE™) and the associated references from this website are subject to the Terms of Use. CWE is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and managed by the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI) which is operated by The MITRE Corporation (MITRE). Copyright © 2006–2025, The MITRE Corporation. CWE, CWSS, CWRAF, and the CWE logo are trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. |