CWE-470 is Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection'). The flaw arises when the product uses external input with reflection to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code. The database currently holds 73 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-470 and 1 of them are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
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The product uses external input with reflection to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code.
If the product uses external inputs to determine which class to instantiate or which method to invoke, then an attacker could supply values to select unexpected classes or methods. If this occurs, then the attacker could create control flow paths that were not intended by the developer. These paths could bypass authentication or access control checks, or otherwise cause the product to behave in an unexpected manner. This situation becomes a doomsday scenario if the attacker can upload files into a location that appears on the product's classpath (CWE-427) or add new entries to the product's classpath (CWE-426). Under either of these conditions, the attacker can use reflection to introduce new, malicious behavior into the product.
| Impact | Scope | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, Alter Execution Logic | Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Other | The attacker might be able to execute code that is not directly accessible to the attacker. Alternately, the attacker could call unexpected code in the wrong place or the wrong time, possibly modifying critical system state. |
| DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, Other | Availability, Other | The attacker might be able to use reflection to call the wrong code, possibly with unexpected arguments that violate the API (CWE-227). This could cause the product to exit or hang. |
| Read Application Data | Confidentiality | By causing the wrong code to be invoked, the attacker might be able to trigger a runtime error that leaks sensitive information in the error message, such as CWE-536. |
| Method | Approach | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|
| Automated Static Analysis | Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.) | High |
Below are representative vulnerabilities related to this CWE, prioritized by severity.
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