CWE-350 Variante Borrador

Reliance on Reverse DNS Resolution for a Security-Critical Action

This vulnerability occurs when an application uses a reverse DNS lookup on an IP address to get a hostname and then uses that hostname for a security decision—like access control or logging—without…

Definición

What is CWE-350?

This vulnerability occurs when an application uses a reverse DNS lookup on an IP address to get a hostname and then uses that hostname for a security decision—like access control or logging—without verifying that the IP address actually belongs to that hostname.
Relying on a reverse DNS (rDNS) hostname for authentication or security decisions is inherently risky because DNS records are not a secure proof of identity. An attacker who controls the DNS server for their IP address can make it return any hostname they choose, such as 'trusted-server.internal,' potentially bypassing IP allowlists, spoofing logs, or gaining unauthorized access. Attackers can spoof these names either by compromising a legitimate DNS server (via methods like cache poisoning) or by legitimately managing the DNS for their own infrastructure. Since applications cannot easily distinguish between a legitimate rDNS response and a spoofed one, using this data for security-critical actions creates a significant weakness that can be exploited to hide malicious activity or impersonate trusted systems.
Impacto en el mundo real

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-350

  • Does not do double-reverse lookup to prevent DNS spoofing.

  • Does not verify reverse-resolved hostnames in DNS.

  • Authentication bypass using spoofed reverse-resolved DNS hostnames.

  • Authentication bypass using spoofed reverse-resolved DNS hostnames.

  • Filter does not properly check the result of a reverse DNS lookup, which could allow remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via DNS spoofing.

  • Reverse DNS lookup used to spoof trusted content in intermediary.

  • Product records the reverse DNS name of a visitor in the logs, allowing spoofing and resultant XSS.

Cómo lo explotan los atacantes

Ruta del atacante paso a paso

  1. 1

    The following code samples use a DNS lookup in order to decide whether or not an inbound request is from a trusted host. If an attacker can poison the DNS cache, they can gain trusted status.

  2. 2

    IP addresses are more reliable than DNS names, but they can also be spoofed. Attackers can easily forge the source IP address of the packets they send, but response packets will return to the forged IP address. To see the response packets, the attacker has to sniff the traffic between the victim machine and the forged IP address. In order to accomplish the required sniffing, attackers typically attempt to locate themselves on the same subnet as the victim machine. Attackers may be able to circumvent this requirement by using source routing, but source routing is disabled across much of the Internet today. In summary, IP address verification can be a useful part of an authentication scheme, but it should not be the single factor required for authentication.

  3. 3

    In these examples, a connection is established if a request is made by a trusted host.

  4. 4

    These examples check if a request is from a trusted host before responding to a request, but the code only verifies the hostname as stored in the request packet. An attacker can spoof the hostname, thus impersonating a trusted client.

Ejemplo de código vulnerable

Vulnerable C

The following code samples use a DNS lookup in order to decide whether or not an inbound request is from a trusted host. If an attacker can poison the DNS cache, they can gain trusted status.

Vulnerable C
struct hostent *hp;struct in_addr myaddr;
  char* tHost = "trustme.example.com";
  myaddr.s_addr=inet_addr(ip_addr_string);
  hp = gethostbyaddr((char *) &myaddr, sizeof(struct in_addr), AF_INET);
  if (hp && !strncmp(hp->h_name, tHost, sizeof(tHost))) {
  	trusted = true;
  } else {
  	trusted = false;
  }
Ejemplo de código seguro

Secure pseudo

Seguro 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.
Lista de prevención

How to prevent CWE-350

  • Architecture and Design Use other means of identity verification that cannot be simply spoofed. Possibilities include a username/password or certificate.
  • Implementation Perform proper forward and reverse DNS lookups to detect DNS spoofing.
Señales de detección

How to detect CWE-350

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.)

Auto-corrección de Plexicus

Plexicus detecta automáticamente CWE-350 y abre un PR de corrección en menos de 60 segundos.

Codex Remedium escanea cada commit, identifica esta debilidad concreta y entrega un pull request listo para revisión con el parche. Sin tickets. Sin traspasos.

Preguntas frecuentes

Frequently asked questions

¿Qué es CWE-350?

This vulnerability occurs when an application uses a reverse DNS lookup on an IP address to get a hostname and then uses that hostname for a security decision—like access control or logging—without verifying that the IP address actually belongs to that hostname.

¿Qué gravedad tiene CWE-350?

MITRE no ha publicado una calificación de probabilidad de explotación para esta debilidad. Trátala como de impacto medio hasta que tu modelo de amenazas demuestre lo contrario.

¿Qué lenguajes o plataformas se ven afectados por CWE-350?

MITRE no ha especificado plataformas afectadas para esta CWE — puede aplicar a la mayoría de los stacks de aplicaciones.

¿Cómo puedo prevenir CWE-350?

Use other means of identity verification that cannot be simply spoofed. Possibilities include a username/password or certificate. Perform proper forward and reverse DNS lookups to detect DNS spoofing.

¿Cómo detecta y corrige Plexicus CWE-350?

El motor SAST de Plexicus detecta la firma de flujo de datos para CWE-350 en cada commit. Cuando hay coincidencia, nuestro agente Codex Remedium abre un PR de corrección con el código corregido, las pruebas y un resumen de una línea para el revisor.

¿Dónde puedo aprender más sobre CWE-350?

MITRE publica la definición canónica en https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/350.html. También puedes consultar la documentación de OWASP y NIST para guías relacionadas.

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