Description
The product uses a WebSocket, but it does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid.
WebSockets provide a bi-directional low latency communication (near real-time) between a client and a server. WebSockets are different than HTTP in that the connections are long-lived, as the channel will remain open until the client or the server is ready to send the message, whereas in HTTP, once the response occurs (which typically happens immediately), the transaction completes. A WebSocket can leverage the existing HTTP protocol over ports 80 and 443, but it is not limited to HTTP. WebSockets can make cross-origin requests that are not restricted by browser-based protection mechanisms such as the Same Origin Policy (SOP) or Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS). Without explicit origin validation, this makes CSRF attacks more powerful.
Potential Impact
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Non-Repudiation, Access Control
Varies by Context, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Bypass Protection Mechanism, Read Application Data, Modify Application Data, DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Mitigations & Prevention
Enable CORS-like access restrictions by verifying the 'Origin' header during the WebSocket handshake.
Use a randomized CSRF token to verify requests.
Use TLS to securely communicate using 'wss' (WebSocket Secure) instead of 'ws'.
Require user authentication prior to the WebSocket connection being established. For example, the WS library in Node has a 'verifyClient' function.
Leverage rate limiting to prevent against DoS. Use of the leaky bucket algorithm can help with this.
Use a library that provides restriction of the payload size. For example, WS library for Node includes 'maxPayloadoption' that can be set.
Treat data/input as untrusted in both directions and apply the same data/input sanitization as XSS, SQLi, etc.
Real-World CVE Examples
| CVE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CVE-2020-25095 | web console for SIEM product does not check Origin header, allowing Cross Site WebSocket Hijacking (CSWH) |
| CVE-2018-6651 | Chain: gaming client attempts to validate the Origin header, but only uses a substring, allowing Cross-Site WebSocket hijacking by forcing requests from an origin whose hostname is a substring of the |
| CVE-2018-14730 | WebSocket server does not check the origin of requests, allowing attackers to steal developer's code using a ws://127.0.0.1:3123/ connection. |
| CVE-2018-14731 | WebSocket server does not check the origin of requests, allowing attackers to steal developer's code using a ws://127.0.0.1/ connection to a randomized port number. |
| CVE-2018-14732 | WebSocket server does not check the origin of requests, allowing attackers to steal developer's code using a ws://127.0.0.1:8080/ connection. |
Related Weaknesses
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CWE-1385?
CWE-1385 (Missing Origin Validation in WebSockets) is a software weakness identified by MITRE's Common Weakness Enumeration. It is classified as a Variant-level weakness. The product uses a WebSocket, but it does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid.
How can CWE-1385 be exploited?
Attackers can exploit CWE-1385 (Missing Origin Validation in WebSockets) to varies by context, gain privileges or assume identity, bypass protection mechanism, read application data, modify application data, dos: crash, exit, or restart. This weakness is typically introduced during the Architecture and Design, Implementation phase of software development.
How do I prevent CWE-1385?
Key mitigations include: Enable CORS-like access restrictions by verifying the 'Origin' header during the WebSocket handshake.
What is the severity of CWE-1385?
CWE-1385 is classified as a Variant-level weakness (Low-Medium abstraction). It has been observed in 5 real-world CVEs.