CWE-382 Variant Draft

J2EE Bad Practices: Use of System.exit()

This vulnerability occurs when a J2EE application directly calls System.exit(), which forcibly terminates the entire application server process, not just the application itself.

Definition

What is CWE-382?

This vulnerability occurs when a J2EE application directly calls System.exit(), which forcibly terminates the entire application server process, not just the application itself.
Calling System.exit() from within a deployed J2EE application is a dangerous anti-pattern. It grants a single application the power to shut down the shared container, crashing every other application and service running on the same server. This creates a severe reliability issue and an immediate vector for Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks, as even an unprivileged user might trigger a code path that calls this method. Instead of using System.exit(), applications should manage their lifecycle gracefully through the container's administrative interfaces. Error conditions should be handled using exception mechanisms that log the issue and return an appropriate error response to the user, allowing the container and other co-hosted applications to continue running normally. This approach maintains system stability and aligns with the managed, multi-application environment that J2EE containers are designed to provide.
Auswirkungen in der Praxis

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-382

Bisher sind in MITREs Katalog keine öffentlichen CVE-Referenzen mit dieser CWE verknüpft.

Wie Angreifer es ausnutzen

Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt

  1. 1

    Identifiziere einen Codepfad, der nicht vertrauenswürdige Eingaben ohne Validierung verarbeitet.

  2. 2

    Erzeuge eine Payload, die das unsichere Verhalten auslöst — Injection, Traversal, Overflow oder Logik-Missbrauch.

  3. 3

    Liefere die Payload über einen normalen Request aus und beobachte die Reaktion der Anwendung.

  4. 4

    Iteriere, bis die Antwort Daten preisgibt, Angreifer-Code ausführt oder Berechtigungen eskaliert.

Verwundbares Codebeispiel

Vulnerable Java

Included in the doPost() method defined below is a call to System.exit() in the event of a specific exception.

Verwundbar Java 
Public void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
  	try {
  		...
  	} catch (ApplicationSpecificException ase) {
  		logger.error("Caught: " + ase.toString());
  		System.exit(1);
  	}
  }
Sicheres Codebeispiel

Secure pseudo

Sicher pseudo 
// Validate, sanitize, or use a safe API before reaching the sink.
function handleRequest(input) {
  const safe = validateAndEscape(input);
  return executeWithGuards(safe);
}
What changed: the unsafe sink is replaced (or the input is validated/escaped) so the same payload no longer triggers the weakness.
Präventions-Checkliste

How to prevent CWE-382

  • Architecture and Design The shutdown function should be a privileged function available only to a properly authorized administrative user
  • Implementation Web applications should not call methods that cause the virtual machine to exit, such as System.exit()
  • Implementation Web applications should also not throw any Throwables to the application server as this may adversely affect the container.
  • Implementation Non-web applications may have a main() method that contains a System.exit(), but generally should not call System.exit() from other locations in the code
Erkennungssignale

How to detect CWE-382

Automated Static Analysis High

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.)

Plexicus Auto-Fix

Plexicus erkennt CWE-382 automatisch und öffnet in unter 60 Sekunden einen Fix-PR.

Codex Remedium scannt jeden Commit, identifiziert genau diese Schwachstelle und liefert einen reviewer-ready Pull Request mit dem Patch. Keine Tickets. Keine Hand-offs.

Demo anfordern Plexicus kostenlos testen
Häufig gestellte Fragen

Frequently asked questions

Was ist CWE-382?

This vulnerability occurs when a J2EE application directly calls System.exit(), which forcibly terminates the entire application server process, not just the application itself.

Wie gravierend ist CWE-382?

MITRE hat für diese Schwachstelle keine Exploit-Wahrscheinlichkeit veröffentlicht. Behandle sie als mittlere Auswirkung, bis dein Threat Model anderes belegt.

Welche Sprachen oder Plattformen sind von CWE-382 betroffen?

MITRE lists the following affected platforms: Java.

Wie kann ich CWE-382 verhindern?

The shutdown function should be a privileged function available only to a properly authorized administrative user Web applications should not call methods that cause the virtual machine to exit, such as System.exit()

Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-382?

Die SAST-Engine von Plexicus erkennt die Datenfluss-Signatur von CWE-382 bei jedem Commit. Bei einem Treffer öffnet unser Codex-Remedium-Agent einen Fix-PR mit korrigiertem Code, Tests und einer einzeiligen Zusammenfassung für den Reviewer.

Wo erfahre ich mehr über CWE-382?

MITRE veröffentlicht die kanonische Definition unter https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/382.html. Für ergänzende Hinweise kannst du auch die OWASP- und NIST-Dokumentation heranziehen.

Verwandte Schwachstellen

Weaknesses related to CWE-382

CWE-705 Parent

Incorrect Control Flow Scoping

This vulnerability occurs when a program fails to return execution to the correct point in the code after finishing a specific operation…

CWE-248 Sibling

Uncaught Exception

This vulnerability occurs when a function throws an error or exception, but the calling code does not have a proper handler to catch and…

CWE-395 Sibling

Use of NullPointerException Catch to Detect NULL Pointer Dereference

Using a try-catch block for NullPointerException as a substitute for proper null checks is an anti-pattern. This approach masks the root…

CWE-396 Sibling

Declaration of Catch for Generic Exception

This weakness occurs when code catches a generic exception type like 'Exception' or 'Throwable', which can hide specific errors and create…

CWE-397 Sibling

Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception

This vulnerability occurs when a method is declared to throw an overly broad exception type, such as a generic 'Exception' or 'Throwable'.…

CWE-455 Sibling

Non-exit on Failed Initialization

This vulnerability occurs when software continues to run as normal after encountering a critical security failure during its startup…

CWE-584 Sibling

Return Inside Finally Block

This vulnerability occurs when a function places a return statement inside a finally block. This dangerous pattern silently discards any…

CWE-698 Sibling

Execution After Redirect (EAR)

Execution After Redirect (EAR) occurs when a web application sends a redirect response to a user's browser but continues to run…

Ressourcen

Further reading

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