CWE-346: Origin Validation Error (Class)

Description: The product does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid.




Applicable Platforms: ::LANGUAGE CLASS:Not Language-Specific:LANGUAGE PREVALENCE:Undetermined::

Modes of Introduction: ::PHASE:Architecture and Design::PHASE:Implementation:NOTE:REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.::



Common Consequences: ::SCOPE:Access Control:SCOPE:Other:IMPACT:Gain Privileges or Assume Identity:IMPACT:Varies by Context:NOTE:An attacker can access any functionality that is inadvertently accessible to the source.::



Observed Examples: ::REFERENCE:CVE-2000-1218:DESCRIPTION:DNS server can accept DNS updates from hosts that it did not query, leading to cache poisoning:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2000-1218::REFERENCE:CVE-2005-0877:DESCRIPTION:DNS server can accept DNS updates from hosts that it did not query, leading to cache poisoning:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-0877::REFERENCE:CVE-2001-1452:DESCRIPTION:DNS server caches glue records received from non-delegated name servers:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2001-1452::REFERENCE:CVE-2005-2188:DESCRIPTION:user ID obtained from untrusted source (URL):LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-2188::REFERENCE:CVE-2003-0174:DESCRIPTION:LDAP service does not verify if a particular attribute was set by the LDAP server:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0174::REFERENCE:CVE-1999-1549:DESCRIPTION:product does not sufficiently distinguish external HTML from internal, potentially dangerous HTML, allowing bypass using special strings in the page title. Overlaps special elements.:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-1999-1549::REFERENCE:CVE-2003-0981:DESCRIPTION:product records the reverse DNS name of a visitor in the logs, allowing spoofing and resultant XSS.:LINK:https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0981::



Notes: ::TYPE:Maintenance:NOTE:This entry has some significant overlap with other CWE entries and may need some clarification. See terminology notes.::TYPE:Terminology:NOTE:The Origin Validation Error term was originally used in a 1995 thesis [REF-324]. Although not formally defined, an issue is considered to be an origin validation error if either (1) an object [accepts] input from an unauthorized subject, or (2) the system [fails] to properly or completely authenticate a subject. A later section says that an origin validation error can occur when the system (1) does not properly authenticate a user or process or (2) does not properly authenticate the shared data or libraries. The only example provided in the thesis (covered by OSVDB:57615) involves a setuid program running command-line arguments without dropping privileges. So, this definition (and its examples in the thesis) effectively cover other weaknesses such as CWE-287 (Improper Authentication), CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), and CWE-250 (Execution with Unnecessary Privileges). There appears to be little usage of this term today, except in the SecurityFocus vulnerability database, where the term is used for a variety of issues, including web-browser problems that allow violation of the Same Origin Policy and improper validation of the source of an incoming message.::