CWE-925 Variant Incomplete

Improper Verification of Intent by Broadcast Receiver

This vulnerability occurs when an Android app's Broadcast Receiver accepts an Intent without confirming it originated from a trusted, authorized source, such as the operating system.

Definition

What is CWE-925?

This vulnerability occurs when an Android app's Broadcast Receiver accepts an Intent without confirming it originated from a trusted, authorized source, such as the operating system.
Android allows apps to register Broadcast Receivers for specific system-generated Intents, like a device boot completion. These are implicit intents that, by design, should only be sent by the OS. However, the same receiver registration also accepts explicit intents, which can be crafted and sent by any app on the device. A malicious app can exploit this by sending a carefully crafted explicit intent to the receiver. If the receiving app fails to verify the intent's source, it may incorrectly process the malicious intent as a legitimate system broadcast. This confusion can trigger unauthorized actions, expose sensitive data, or crash the application.
Auswirkungen in der Praxis

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-925

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

Wie Angreifer es ausnutzen

Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt

  1. 1

    The following example demonstrates the weakness.

  2. 2

    The ShutdownReceiver class will handle the intent:

  3. 3

    Because the method does not confirm that the intent action is the expected system intent, any received intent will trigger the shutdown procedure, as shown here:

  4. 4

    An attacker can use this behavior to cause a denial of service.

Verwundbares Codebeispiel

Vulnerable XML

The following example demonstrates the weakness.

Verwundbar XML 
<manifest package="com.example.vulnerableApplication">
  		<application>
```
...* 
  		
  		```
  				<receiver android:name=".ShutdownReceiver">
  					<intent-filter>
  						<action android:name="android.intent.action.ACTION_SHUTDOWN" />
  					</intent-filter>
  				</receiver>
```
...* 
  		
  		</application></manifest>
Angreifer-Payload

Because the method does not confirm that the intent action is the expected system intent, any received intent will trigger the shutdown procedure, as shown here:

Angreifer-Payload Java 
window.location = examplescheme://method?parameter=value
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-925

  • Architecture and Design Before acting on the Intent, check the Intent Action to make sure it matches the expected System action.
Erkennungssignale

How to detect CWE-925

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-925 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-925?

This vulnerability occurs when an Android app's Broadcast Receiver accepts an Intent without confirming it originated from a trusted, authorized source, such as the operating system.

Wie gravierend ist CWE-925?

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-925 betroffen?

MITRE lists the following affected platforms: Mobile.

Wie kann ich CWE-925 verhindern?

Before acting on the Intent, check the Intent Action to make sure it matches the expected System action.

Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-925?

Die SAST-Engine von Plexicus erkennt die Datenfluss-Signatur von CWE-925 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-925?

MITRE veröffentlicht die kanonische Definition unter https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/925.html. Für ergänzende Hinweise kannst du auch die OWASP- und NIST-Dokumentation heranziehen.

Verwandte Schwachstellen

Weaknesses related to CWE-925

CWE-940 Parent

Improper Verification of Source of a Communication Channel

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts incoming communication requests without properly checking where they originate from,…

Ressourcen

Further reading

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