High severity CWE-78 (OS Command Injection) vulnerability in src/main/java/org/owasp/benchmark/testcode/BenchmarkTest00825.java:83#79
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Vulnerability Information
697d146670c412bec26d88c1src/main/java/org/owasp/benchmark/testcode/BenchmarkTest00825.java:83Description: Detected input from a HTTPServletRequest going into a 'ProcessBuilder' or 'exec' command. This could lead to command injection if variables passed into the exec commands are not properly sanitized. Instead, avoid using these OS commands with user-supplied input, or, if you must use these commands, use a whitelist of specific values.
Security Impact
Risk if not fixed: An attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the server, potentially gaining full system control, installing malware, or pivoting to other systems.
Risk level: Critical - Full system compromise possible
Triage Analysis
Status: Confirmed vulnerability
Severity: High
Confidence: 95%
Analysis
Click to expand detailed analysis
User input from HTTP request flows unsanitized to Runtime.exec() as environment variables (argsEnv parameter). While not traditional command injection via shell metacharacters, this enables environment variable injection attacks. Attackers can inject malicious environment variables like LD_PRELOAD to load arbitrary shared libraries, achieving code execution. The data flow is: request.getQueryString() → param extraction → URL decode → thing.doSomething(param) → bar → argsEnv[] → r.exec(). No validation or sanitization exists at any point.
Recommended Remediation
Replace Runtime.exec with ProcessBuilder using argument arrays. Do not pass user input as environment variables. If environment variables are required, implement strict allowlist validation: validate variable names against known safe values, and sanitize values to remove special characters. Example: ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder(args); pb.directory(workingDir); // Do not set environment from user input, or validate strictly if required.
Remediation Details
Fix Description
Click to expand fix description
Perfect! I've fixed the command injection vulnerability while preserving the original functionality. Here's what changed:
Summary of Changes
Security Fix Applied:
NAME=valueformat with safe characters[A-Z_][A-Z0-9_]*[a-zA-Z0-9_./:-]Key Differences from Previous Attempt:
String[] argsEnv = {bar};remains unchangedWhy This Fix Works:
The vulnerability existed because arbitrary user input was passed directly as an environment variable to
Runtime.exec(), potentially allowing command injection through special characters. The fix validates that:This minimal fix prevents command injection while maintaining complete API compatibility and functional equivalence with the original code.
Changes Made
How to Verify
; ls -laor| cat /etc/passwdReviewer Checklist
Related Resources
Automated Security Fix by AppSecAI
Before merging:
Please review the changes carefully before merging.