Base · Medium

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

The product allows the upload or transfer of dangerous file types that are automatically processed within its environment.

CWE-434 · Base Level ·11 CVEs ·12 Mitigations

Description

The product allows the upload or transfer of dangerous file types that are automatically processed within its environment.

File Upload Vulnerability Guide

Read our in-depth guide on exploiting and mitigating this weakness

Potential Impact

Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability

Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Demonstrative Examples

The following code intends to allow a user to upload a picture to the web server. The HTML code that drives the form on the user end has an input field of type "file".
Good
<form action="upload_picture.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
                     Choose a file to upload:<input type="file" name="filename"/><br/><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit"/>
                     </form>
Once submitted, the form above sends the file to upload_picture.php on the web server. PHP stores the file in a temporary location until it is retrieved (or discarded) by the server side code. In this example, the file is moved to a more permanent pictures/ directory.
Bad
// Define the target location where the picture being
                     
                     
                     // uploaded is going to be saved.
                     $target = "pictures/" . basename($_FILES['uploadedfile']['name']);
                     
                     // Move the uploaded file to the new location.
                     if(move_uploaded_file($_FILES['uploadedfile']['tmp_name'], $target)){echo "The picture has been successfully uploaded.";}else{echo "There was an error uploading the picture, please try again.";}
The problem with the above code is that there is no check regarding type of file being uploaded. Assuming that pictures/ is available in the web document root, an attacker could upload a file with the name:
Attack
malicious.php
Since this filename ends in ".php" it can be executed by the web server. In the contents of this uploaded file, the attacker could use:
Attack
<?phpsystem($_GET['cmd']);
                     ?>
Once this file has been installed, the attacker can enter arbitrary commands to execute using a URL such as:
Attack
http://server.example.com/upload_dir/malicious.php?cmd=ls%20-l
which runs the "ls -l" command - or any other type of command that the attacker wants to specify.
The following code demonstrates the unrestricted upload of a file with a Java servlet and a path traversal vulnerability. The action attribute of an HTML form is sending the upload file request to the Java servlet.
Good
<form action="FileUploadServlet" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
                     Choose a file to upload:<input type="file" name="filename"/><br/><input type="submit" name="submit" value="Submit"/>
                     </form>
When submitted the Java servlet's doPost method will receive the request, extract the name of the file from the Http request header, read the file contents from the request and output the file to the local upload directory.
Bad
public class FileUploadServlet extends HttpServlet {
                     
                        ...
                           protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
                           
                              response.setContentType("text/html");PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();String contentType = request.getContentType();
                                 // the starting position of the boundary headerint ind = contentType.indexOf("boundary=");String boundary = contentType.substring(ind+9);
                                 String pLine = new String();String uploadLocation = new String(UPLOAD_DIRECTORY_STRING); //Constant value
                                 // verify that content type is multipart form dataif (contentType != null && contentType.indexOf("multipart/form-data") != -1) {
                                 
                                    // extract the filename from the Http headerBufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(request.getInputStream()));...pLine = br.readLine();String filename = pLine.substring(pLine.lastIndexOf("\\"), pLine.lastIndexOf("\""));...
                                       // output the file to the local upload directorytry {
                                          BufferedWriter bw = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(uploadLocation+filename, true));for (String line; (line=br.readLine())!=null; ) {if (line.indexOf(boundary) == -1) {bw.write(line);bw.newLine();bw.flush();}} //end of for loopbw.close();
                                       
                                       
                                       } catch (IOException ex) {...}// output successful upload response HTML page
                                 }// output unsuccessful upload response HTML pageelse{...}
                           }...
                        
                     }
This code does not perform a check on the type of the file being uploaded (CWE-434). This could allow an attacker to upload any executable file or other file with malicious code.
Additionally, the creation of the BufferedWriter object is subject to relative path traversal (CWE-23). Since the code does not check the filename that is provided in the header, an attacker can use "../" sequences to write to files outside of the intended directory. Depending on the executing environment, the attacker may be able to specify arbitrary files to write to, leading to a wide variety of consequences, from code execution, XSS (CWE-79), or system crash.

Mitigations & Prevention

Architecture and Design

Generate a new, unique filename for an uploaded file instead of using the user-supplied filename, so that no external input is used at all.[REF-422] [REF-423]

Architecture and Design

When the set of acceptable objects, such as filenames or URLs, is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames or URLs, and reject all other inputs.

Architecture and Design

Consider storing the uploaded files outside of the web document root entirely. Then, use other mechanisms to deliver the files dynamically. [REF-423]

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 relat

Architecture and Design

Define a very limited set of allowable extensions and only generate filenames that end in these extensions. Consider the possibility of XSS (CWE-79) before allowing .html or .htm file types.

Implementation

Ensure that only one extension is used in the filename. Some web servers, including some versions of Apache, may process files based on inner extensions so that "filename.php.gif" is fed to the PHP interpreter.[REF-422] [REF-423]

Implementation

When running on a web server that supports case-insensitive filenames, perform case-insensitive evaluations of the extensions that are provided.

Architecture and Design

For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.

Implementation

Do not rely exclusively on sanity checks of file contents to ensure that the file is of the expected type and size. It may be possible for an attacker to hide code in some file segments that will still be executed by the server. For example, GIF images may contain a free-form comments field.

Implementation

Do not rely exclusively on the MIME content type or filename attribute when determining how to render a file. Validating the MIME content type and ensuring that it matches the extension is only a partial solution.

Detection Methods

  • Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation SOAR Partial — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
  • Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation SOAR Partial — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
  • Manual Static Analysis - Source Code High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
  • Automated Static Analysis - Source Code High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
  • Architecture or Design Review High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:

Real-World CVE Examples

CVE IDDescription
CVE-2023-5227PHP-based FAQ management app does not check the MIME type for uploaded images
CVE-2001-0901Web-based mail product stores ".shtml" attachments that could contain SSI
CVE-2002-1841PHP upload does not restrict file types
CVE-2005-1868upload and execution of .php file
CVE-2005-1881upload file with dangerous extension
CVE-2005-0254program does not restrict file types
CVE-2004-2262improper type checking of uploaded files
CVE-2006-4558Double "php" extension leaves an active php extension in the generated filename.
CVE-2006-6994ASP program allows upload of .asp files by bypassing client-side checks
CVE-2005-3288ASP file upload
CVE-2006-2428ASP file upload

Taxonomy Mappings

  • PLOVER: — Unrestricted File Upload
  • OWASP Top Ten 2007: A3 — Malicious File Execution
  • OMG ASCSM: ASCSM-CWE-434 —

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CWE-434?

CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type) is a software weakness identified by MITRE's Common Weakness Enumeration. It is classified as a Base-level weakness. The product allows the upload or transfer of dangerous file types that are automatically processed within its environment.

How can CWE-434 be exploited?

Attackers can exploit CWE-434 (Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type) to execute unauthorized code or commands. This weakness is typically introduced during the Implementation, Architecture and Design phase of software development.

How do I prevent CWE-434?

Key mitigations include: Generate a new, unique filename for an uploaded file instead of using the user-supplied filename, so that no external input is used at all.[REF-422] [REF-423]

What is the severity of CWE-434?

CWE-434 is classified as a Base-level weakness (Medium abstraction). It has been observed in 11 real-world CVEs.