Weakness · Medium

CWE-433: Unparsed Raw Web Content Delivery

What it is

The product stores raw content or supporting code under the web document root with an extension that is not specifically handled by the server.

MITRE CWE 4.19.1

Severity (our rating)
Medium
Likelihood of exploit
Not rated by MITRE
Introduced during
Implementation, Operation
Exploited in the wild
No CVE in CISA's catalog

In more detail

If code is stored in a file with an extension such as ".inc" or ".pl", and the web server does not have a handler for that extension, then the server will likely send the contents of the file directly to the requester without the pre-processing that was expected. When that file contains sensitive information such as database credentials, this may allow the attacker to compromise the application or associated components.

What an attacker can do

  • Read Application Data (Confidentiality)

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design

  • Perform a type check before interpreting files.
  • Do not store sensitive information in files which may be misinterpreted.

CWE-433 on MITRE's CWE site

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Source: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.