CWE-157 Variante Rascunho

Failure to Sanitize Paired Delimiters

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly validate or neutralize the special characters that come in pairs to define boundaries, such as parentheses, brackets, quotes, or…

Definição

What is CWE-157?

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly validate or neutralize the special characters that come in pairs to define boundaries, such as parentheses, brackets, quotes, or braces. Attackers can exploit this oversight to manipulate data structure, inject malicious code, or cause the application to crash.
Paired delimiters are fundamental to programming syntax, marking the start and end of code blocks, strings, or data elements. Common examples include angle brackets (< >) for tags, parentheses ( ) for functions, braces { } for blocks, square brackets [ ] for arrays, and single or double quotes for strings. When an application doesn't sanitize these user-controlled delimiter pairs, it can misinterpret where a command or data block ends, leading to critical security flaws like injection attacks or logic errors. For developers, the fix involves implementing strict input validation and context-aware output encoding. Always treat any user input containing these special characters as untrusted. Use well-established sanitization libraries for your specific context (e.g., HTML, SQL, OS commands) instead of writing custom filters, as correctly handling nested or escaped delimiters is error-prone. This ensures the application correctly interprets delimiter pairs as literal data, not as executable code or structural syntax.
Impacto no mundo real

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-157

  • Crash via missing paired delimiter (open double-quote but no closing double-quote).

  • Crash via message without closing ">".

  • Buffer overflow via mailbox name with an opening double quote but missing a closing double quote, causing a larger copy than expected.

Como os atacantes a exploram

Trajeto do atacante passo a passo

  1. 1

    Identificar um caminho de código que trata input não confiável sem validação.

  2. 2

    Criar um payload que explora o comportamento inseguro — injeção, traversal, overflow ou abuso de lógica.

  3. 3

    Entregar o payload através de um pedido normal e observar a reação da aplicação.

  4. 4

    Iterar até que a resposta exponha dados, execute código do atacante ou escale privilégios.

Exemplo de código vulnerável

Vulnerable pseudo

A MITRE não publicou um exemplo de código para este CWE. O padrão abaixo é ilustrativo — consulte os Recursos para referências canónicas.

Vulnerável pseudo
// Example pattern — see MITRE for the canonical references.
function handleRequest(input) {
  // Untrusted input flows directly into the sensitive sink.
  return executeUnsafe(input);
}
Exemplo 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 verificação de prevenção

How to prevent CWE-157

  • Developers should anticipate that grouping elements will be injected/removed/manipulated in the input vectors of their product. Use an appropriate combination of denylists and allowlists to ensure only valid, expected and appropriate input is processed by the system.
  • Implementation Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
  • Implementation While it is risky to use dynamically-generated query strings, code, or commands that mix control and data together, sometimes it may be unavoidable. Properly quote arguments and escape any special characters within those arguments. The most conservative approach is to escape or filter all characters that do not pass an extremely strict allowlist (such as everything that is not alphanumeric or white space). If some special characters are still needed, such as white space, wrap each argument in quotes after the escaping/filtering step. Be careful of argument injection (CWE-88).
  • Implementation Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
Sinais de deteção

How to detect CWE-157

SAST High

Executar análise estática (SAST) na base de código à procura do padrão inseguro no fluxo de dados.

DAST Moderate

Executar testes dinâmicos de segurança de aplicações (DAST) contra o endpoint em execução.

Runtime Moderate

Monitorizar os registos em tempo de execução para traços de exceção invulgares, input malformado ou tentativas de contornar a autorização.

Code review Moderate

Revisão de código: sinalizar qualquer novo código que trate input desta superfície sem usar os ajudantes validados do framework.

Correção automática do Plexicus

O Plexicus deteta automaticamente o CWE-157 e abre um PR de correção em menos de 60 segundos.

O Codex Remedium analisa cada commit, identifica esta fraqueza exata e entrega um pull request pronto para revisão com o patch. Sem tickets. Sem transferências.

Perguntas frequentes

Frequently asked questions

O que é o CWE-157?

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly validate or neutralize the special characters that come in pairs to define boundaries, such as parentheses, brackets, quotes, or braces. Attackers can exploit this oversight to manipulate data structure, inject malicious code, or cause the application to crash.

Qual a gravidade do CWE-157?

A MITRE não publicou uma classificação de probabilidade de exploração para esta fraqueza. Trate-a como impacto médio até o seu modelo de ameaças provar o contrário.

Que linguagens ou plataformas são afetadas pelo CWE-157?

A MITRE não especificou as plataformas afetadas por este CWE — pode aplicar-se à maioria das stacks de aplicações.

Como posso prevenir o CWE-157?

Developers should anticipate that grouping elements will be injected/removed/manipulated in the input vectors of their product. Use an appropriate combination of denylists and allowlists to ensure only valid, expected and appropriate input is processed by the system. Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications,…

Como é que o Plexicus deteta e corrige o CWE-157?

O motor SAST do Plexicus correlaciona a assinatura de fluxo de dados do CWE-157 em cada commit. Quando é encontrada uma correspondência, o nosso agente Codex Remedium abre um PR de correção com o código corrigido, testes e um resumo de uma linha para o revisor.

Onde posso saber mais sobre o CWE-157?

A MITRE publica a definição canónica em https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/157.html. Pode também consultar a documentação da OWASP e do NIST para orientações adjacentes.

Fraquezas relacionadas

Weaknesses related to CWE-157

CWE-138 Pai

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts external input but fails to properly sanitize special characters or syntax that have…

CWE-140 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Delimiters

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly handle or sanitize delimiter characters within data inputs, allowing them…

CWE-147 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Input Terminators

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts external input but fails to properly handle special characters that downstream…

CWE-148 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Input Leaders

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly validate or handle input that begins with special control characters or…

CWE-149 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Quoting Syntax

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly validate or escape quote characters (like single ' or double " quotes) in…

CWE-150 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences

This vulnerability occurs when an application fails to properly sanitize or escape special character sequences in user-supplied input…

CWE-151 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Comment Delimiters

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts user input and fails to properly sanitize characters that can be interpreted as…

CWE-152 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Macro Symbols

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts user input containing macro symbols (like those used in templates or configuration…

CWE-153 Irmão

Improper Neutralization of Substitution Characters

This vulnerability occurs when an application accepts user input and fails to properly sanitize special characters that can trigger…

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