Description
The application has a validator form that either does not define a validate() method, or defines a validate() method but does not call super.validate().
If the code does not call super.validate(), the Validation Framework cannot check the contents of the form against a validation form. In other words, the validation framework will be disabled for the given form.
The Struts Validator uses a form’s validate() method to check the contents of the form properties against the constraints specified in the associated validation form. That means the following classes have a validate() method that is part of the validation framework: ValidatorForm, ValidatorActionForm, DynaValidatorForm, and DynaValidatorActionForm. If the code creates a class that extends one of these classes, and if that class implements custom validation logic by overriding the validate() method, the code must call super.validate() in the validate() implementation.
Modes of Introduction:
– Implementation
Related Weaknesses
Consequences
Other: Other
Disabling the validation framework for a form exposes the application to numerous types of attacks. Unchecked input is the root cause of vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting, process control, and SQL injection.
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Other: Other
Although J2EE applications are not generally susceptible to memory corruption attacks, if a J2EE application interfaces with native code that does not perform array bounds checking, an attacker may be able to use an input validation mistake in the J2EE application to launch a buffer overflow attack.
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Implementation
Description:
Implement the validate() method and call super.validate() within that method.