Improper Neutralization

At its core, this weakness is about failing to enforce data integrity. It happens when an application doesn't ensure that incoming or outgoing messages are correctly formatted and safe before processing. This is especially dangerous when data from an untrusted source can sneak into control instructions—like part of a database query or system command—instead of being treated as plain information. To prevent this, you need to implement 'neutralization' techniques. This means actively checking that data is already safe (validation), transforming it to make it safe (through encoding, escaping, or filtering), or using indirect selection methods to map external inputs to internal, controlled values. The goal is to stop malicious or malformed data from being processed in a way that compromises your system's security.