CWE

Improper Control of Document Type Definition

ID: 827		Date: (C)2012-05-14   (M)2022-10-10
Type: weakness		Status: INCOMPLETE
Abstraction Type: Base

Description

The software does not restrict a reference to a Document Type Definition (DTD) to the intended control sphere. This might allow attackers to reference arbitrary DTDs, possibly causing the software to expose files, consume excessive system resources, or execute arbitrary http requests on behalf of the attacker.

Extended Description

As DTDs are processed, they might try to read or include files on the machine performing the parsing. If an attacker is able to control the DTD, then the attacker might be able to specify sensitive resources or requests or provide malicious content.

For example, the SOAP specification prohibits SOAP messages from containing DTDs.

Applicable Platforms
None

Common Consequences

Scope	Technical Impact	Notes
Confidentiality	Read files or directories	If the attacker is able to include a crafted DTD and a default entity resolver is enabled, the attacker may be able to access arbitrary files on the system.
Availability	DoS: resource consumption (CPU) DoS: resource consumption (memory)	The DTD may cause the parser to consume excessive CPU cycles or memory using techniques such as nested or recursive entity references (CWE-776).
Integrity Confidentiality Availability Access_Control	Execute unauthorized code or commands Gain privileges / assume identity	The DTD may include arbitrary HTTP requests that the server may execute. This could lead to other attacks leveraging the server's trust relationship with other entities.

Detection Methods
None

Potential Mitigations
None

Relationships

Related CWE	Type	View	Chain
CWE-827 CanPrecede CWE-776	Weakness	CWE-1000

Demonstrative Examples
None

Observed Examples

1. CVE-2010-2076 : Product does not properly reject DTDs in SOAP messages, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files, send HTTP requests to intranet servers, or cause a denial of service.

For more examples, refer to CVE relations in the bottom box.

White Box Definitions
None

Black Box Definitions
None

Taxynomy Mappings
None

References:

1. Daniel Kulp .Apache CXF Security Advisory (CVE-2010-2076). Published on 2010-06-16.