Variant · Low-Medium

CWE-85: Doubled Character XSS Manipulations

The web application does not filter user-controlled input for executable script disguised using doubling of the involved characters.

CWE-85 · Variant Level ·3 CVEs ·5 Mitigations

Description

The web application does not filter user-controlled input for executable script disguised using doubling of the involved characters.

Potential Impact

Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability

Read Application Data, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Mitigations & Prevention

Implementation

Resolve all filtered input to absolute or canonical representations before processing.

Implementation

Carefully check each input parameter against a rigorous positive specification (allowlist) defining the specific characters and format allowed. All input should be neutralized, not just parameters that the user is supposed to specify, but all data in the request, including tag attributes, hidden fields, cookies, headers, the URL itself, and so forth. A common mistake that leads to continuing XSS vulnerabilities is to validate only fields that are expected to be redisplayed by the site. We often

Implementation

Use and specify an output encoding that can be handled by the downstream component that is reading the output. Common encodings include ISO-8859-1, UTF-7, and UTF-8. When an encoding is not specified, a downstream component may choose a different encoding, either by assuming a default encoding or automatically inferring which encoding is being used, which can be erroneous. When the encodings are inconsistent, the downstream component might treat some character or byte sequences as special, even

Implementation

With Struts, write all data from form beans with the bean's filter attribute set to true.

Implementation Defense in Depth

To help mitigate XSS attacks against the user's session cookie, set the session cookie to be HttpOnly. In browsers that support the HttpOnly feature (such as more recent versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox), this attribute can prevent the user's session cookie from being accessible to malicious client-side scripts that use document.cookie. This is not a complete solution, since HttpOnly is not supported by all browsers. More importantly, XmlHttpRequest and other powerful browser technologi

Real-World CVE Examples

CVE IDDescription
CVE-2002-2086XSS using "<script".
CVE-2000-0116Encoded "javascript" in IMG tag.
CVE-2001-1157Extra "<" in front of SCRIPT tag.

Taxonomy Mappings

  • PLOVER: — DOUBLE - Doubled character XSS manipulations, e.g. "<script"
  • Software Fault Patterns: SFP24 — Tainted input to command

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CWE-85?

CWE-85 (Doubled Character XSS Manipulations) is a software weakness identified by MITRE's Common Weakness Enumeration. It is classified as a Variant-level weakness. The web application does not filter user-controlled input for executable script disguised using doubling of the involved characters.

How can CWE-85 be exploited?

Attackers can exploit CWE-85 (Doubled Character XSS Manipulations) to read application data, execute unauthorized code or commands. This weakness is typically introduced during the Implementation phase of software development.

How do I prevent CWE-85?

Key mitigations include: Resolve all filtered input to absolute or canonical representations before processing.

What is the severity of CWE-85?

CWE-85 is classified as a Variant-level weakness (Low-Medium abstraction). It has been observed in 3 real-world CVEs.