CWE-707: Improper Neutralization
The product does not ensure or incorrectly ensures that structured messages or data are well-formed and that certain security properties are met before being read from an upstream component or sent to a downstream component.
How it's found
Improper Neutralization is a broad weakness category rather than one exact bug. Testers narrow it down through manual code review and architecture review to identify which of its more specific child weaknesses actually appears in a given target, then confirm each one individually.
If a message is malformed, it may cause the message to be incorrectly interpreted. Neutralization is an abstract term for any technique that ensures that input (and output) conforms with expectations and is "safe." This can be done by: This weakness typically applies in cases where the product prepares a control message that another process must act on, such as a command or query, and malicious input that was intended as data, can enter the control plane instead. However, this weakness also applies to more general cases where there are not always control implications.checking that the input/output is already "safe" (e.g. validation) transformation of the input/output to be "safe" using techniques such as filtering, encoding/decoding, escaping/unescaping, quoting/unquoting, or canonicalization preventing the input/output from being directly provided by an attacker (e.g. "indirect selection" that maps externally-provided values to internally-controlled values) preventing the input/output from being processed at all
Consequences
- Other
Where this fits in a TurboPentest engagement
This weakness is not covered by the automated black-box pentest. IntegSec pentesters cover it in a manual engagement.
Frequently asked questions
What is CWE-707?
The product does not ensure or incorrectly ensures that structured messages or data are well-formed and that certain security properties are met before being read from an upstream component or sent to a downstream component.
How do you find Improper Neutralization?
Improper Neutralization is a broad weakness category rather than one exact bug. Testers narrow it down through manual code review and architecture review to identify which of its more specific child weaknesses actually appears in a given target, then confirm each one individually.
What is the impact of CWE-707?
Other
Does TurboPentest test for Improper Neutralization?
This weakness is not covered by the automated black-box pentest. IntegSec pentesters cover it in a manual engagement.
Written and reviewed by
Michel Chamberland - Founder & CEO, IntegSec
CISSP, OSCP, OSCE, CEH, GIAC, CCSK · 20+ years in offensive security
Michel has spent 20+ years on offensive security teams including IBM X-Force Red and Trustwave SpiderLabs, leading penetration tests, red team engagements, and breach response for Fortune 500 customers. He is the founder of IntegSec and the architect of TurboPentest.
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