Official definition

The product receives an input value that is used as a resource identifier or other type of reference, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input is equivalent to a potentially-unsafe value.

Attackers can sometimes bypass input validation schemes by finding inputs that appear to be safe, but will be dangerous when processed at a lower layer or by a downstream component. For example, a simple XSS protection mechanism might try to validate that an input has no "" tags using case-sensitive matching, but since HTML is case-insensitive when processed by web browsers, an attacker could inject "" and trigger XSS.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

Implementation

Common consequences

Impact	Scope	Explanation
Varies by Context	Other	-

Risk mitigations

Input Validation · Implementation · Effectiveness: HighAssume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.

Representative vulnerabilities

Below are representative vulnerabilities related to this CWE, prioritized by severity.

Sources (2)

MITRE CWE

CWE Terms of Use

CWE-1289: Improper Validation of Unsafe Equivalence in Input

What is CWE-1289?

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Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-1289

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Official definition

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

Common consequences

Risk mitigations

Representative vulnerabilities

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