CWE-105: Struts: Form Field Without Validator
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The application has a form field that is not validated by a corresponding validation form, which can introduce other weaknesses related to insufficient input validation. Omitting validation for even a single input field may give attackers the leeway they need to compromise the application. 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. The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore. ![]()
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The different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.
The listings below show possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance. Languages Java (Undetermined Prevalence) The table below specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
Example 1 In the following example the Java 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, through the Struts framework, the RegistrationForm bean will maintain the user data in the form fields using the private member variables. The RegistrationForm class uses the Struts validation capability by extending the ValidatorForm class and including the validation for the form fields within the validator XML file, validator.xml. (result) public class RegistrationForm extends org.apache.struts.validator.ValidatorForm {
// private variables for registration form private String name; private String address; private String city; private String state; private String zipcode; private String phone; private String email; public RegistrationForm() { super(); }// getter and setter methods for private variables ... The validator XML file, validator.xml, provides the validation for the form fields of the RegistrationForm. (bad code) Example Language: XML <form-validation>
<formset> </form-validation><form name="RegistrationForm"> </formset><field property="name" depends="required"> </form><arg position="0" key="prompt.name"/> </field><field property="address" depends="required"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.address"/> </field><field property="city" depends="required"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.city"/> </field><field property="state" depends="required,mask"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.state"/> </field><var> <var-name>mask</var-name> </var><var-value>[a-zA-Z]{2}</var-value> <field property="zipcode" depends="required,mask"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.zipcode"/> </field><var> <var-name>mask</var-name> </var><var-value>\d{5}</var-value> However, in the previous example the validator XML file, validator.xml, does not provide validators for all of the form fields in the RegistrationForm. Validator forms are only provided for the first five of the seven form fields. The validator XML file should contain validator forms for all of the form fields for a Struts ActionForm bean. The following validator.xml file for the RegistrationForm class contains validator forms for all of the form fields. (good code) Example Language: XML <form-validation>
<formset> </form-validation><form name="RegistrationForm"> </formset><field property="name" depends="required"> </form><arg position="0" key="prompt.name"/> </field><field property="address" depends="required"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.address"/> </field><field property="city" depends="required"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.city"/> </field><field property="state" depends="required,mask"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.state"/> </field><var> <var-name>mask</var-name> </var><var-value>[a-zA-Z]{2}</var-value> <field property="zipcode" depends="required,mask"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.zipcode"/> </field><var> <var-name>mask</var-name> </var><var-value>\d{5}</var-value> <field property="phone" depends="required,mask"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.phone"/> </field><var> <var-name>mask</var-name> </var><var-value>^([0-9]{3})(-)([0-9]{4}|[0-9]{4})$</var-value> <field property="email" depends="required,email"> <arg position="0" key="prompt.email"/> </field>
This MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.
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