angler-fishThe Vulnerability History Project

CVE-2007-0404

This vulnerability occurred because a script for compiling messages was written but the inputs were not being checked to make sure that they were not malicious in nature. The script's job was to make OS-level commands and if the inputs were not checked correctly, changes could be made to the system. If some of these commands are executed, hackers can take over the system by giving themselves access to files and system functions that they should not be able to reach normally. The fix to this vulnerability was passing the input into a system tool that sanitizes and removes any possibly malicious strings or characters in the command like ";" and "$"


First and foremost, it doesn't look like any test handled this case by attempting to use distrusted inputs. It just seems like not enough thought was put into security before releasing it to the public. Eventually, someone ran into the line of code and raised a bug about how it could become an issue in the future. Ultimately the developer did not consider sanitizing inputs before running the commands.
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CVE: CVE-2007-0404
CWE: 78
ipc:
  note: " "
  answer: false
  question: |
    Did the feature that this vulnerability affected use inter-process
    communication? IPC includes OS signals, pipes, stdin/stdout, message
    passing, and clipboard. Writing to files that another program in this
    software system reads is another form of IPC.

    Answer should be boolean.
CVSS: AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
bugs: []
i18n:
  note: The vulnerability affected the feature because the file it occurred in was
    used to compile message files by its internationalization system.
  answer: true
  question: |
    Was the feature impacted by this vulnerability about internationalization
    (i18n)? An internationalization feature is one that enables people from all
    over the world to use the system. This includes translations, locales,
    typography, unicode, or various other features.

    Answer should be boolean. Write a note about how you came to the conclusions
    you did.
repo: https://github.com/django/django/commit/518d406e53
vccs:
- note: This was the commit where the file and function that created the script was
    introduced to the system. From the very onset, no validation of input was done
  commit: 5cf8f684237ab5addaf3549b2347c3adf107c0a7
fixes:
- note: The os shell line added is used to parse the command line and strips it of
    backticks, dollar sign usage and any command substitutions and parameter expansions
    that may run commands that make the system vulnerable
  commit: 518d406e53a7417385a1a2e10bb5110b67d28fac
- note: Handles submitting and applying security fix for the changes made in commit
    518d406e53a7417385a1a2e10bb5110b67d28fac in a windows computer
  commit: a132d411c6986418ee6c0edc331080aa792fee6e
bounty:
  amt: 
  url: 
  announced: 
lessons:
  yagni:
    note: 
    applies: 
  question: |
    Are there any common lessons we have learned from class that apply to this
    vulnerability? In other words, could this vulnerability serve as an example
    of one of those lessons?

    Leave "applies" blank or put false if you did not see that lesson (you do
    not need to put a reason). Put "true" if you feel the lesson applies and put
    a quick explanation of how it applies.

    Don't feel the need to claim that ALL of these apply, but it's pretty likely
    that one or two of them apply.

    If you think of another lesson we covered in class that applies here, feel
    free to give it a small name and add one in the same format as these.
  serial_killer:
    note: 
    applies: 
  complex_inputs:
    note: 
    applies: 
  distrust_input:
    note: This was about not neutralizing and sanitizing inputs before running commands
    applies: true
  least_privilege:
    note: 
    applies: 
  native_wrappers:
    note: 
    applies: 
  defense_in_depth:
    note: 
    applies: 
  secure_by_default:
    note: 
    applies: 
  environment_variables:
    note: 
    applies: 
  security_by_obscurity:
    note: 
    applies: 
  frameworks_are_optional:
    note: 
    applies: 
reviews: []
sandbox: 
upvotes: 4
CWE_note: This CWE deals with OS Command Injection which was the vulnerability that
  was fixed in this CVE. Talks about not neutralizing or sanitizing inputs before
  running them.
mistakes:
  answer: First and foremost, it doesn't look like any test handled this case by attempting
    to use distrusted inputs. It just seems like not enough thought was put into security
    before releasing it to the public. Eventually, someone ran into the line of code
    and raised a bug about how it could become an issue in the future. Ultimately
    the developer did not consider sanitizing inputs before running the commands.
  question: |
    In your opinion, after all of this research, what mistakes were made that
    led to this vulnerability? Coding mistakes? Design mistakes?
    Maintainability? Requirements? Miscommunications?

    Look at the CWE entry for this vulnerability and examine the mitigations
    they have written there. Are they doing those? Does the fix look proper?

    Use those questions to inspire your answer. Don't feel obligated to answer
    every one. Write a thoughtful entry here that those ing the software
    engineering industry would find interesting.
nickname: 
subsystem:
  name:
  - Django
  - bin
  answer: GitHub repository django bin folder. This is where all the binary execution
    files are located for django
  question: |
    What subsystems was the mistake in?

    Most systems don't have a formal list of their subsystems, but you can
    usually infer them from path names, bug report tags, or other key words
    used. A single source file is not what we mean by a subsystem. In Django,
    the "Component" field on the bug report is useful. But there may be other
    subsystems involved.

    Your subsystem name(s) should not have any dots or slashes in them. Only
    alphanumerics, whitespace, _, - and @.Feel free to add multiple using a YAML
    array.

    In the answer field, explain where you saw these words.
    In the name field, a subsystem name (or an array of names)

    e.g. clipboard, model, view, controller, mod_dav, ui, authentication
discovered:
  answer: It was discovered when the script that was created using that portion of
    code was not escaping files after it ran. This led to the developers realizing
    that it could also lead to malicious scripts to run since the commands weren't
    filtered and sanitized. It was also noticed by another developer working on the
    production version of 0.95 django before the update with the fix was released.
  contest: false
  question: |
    How was this vulnerability discovered?

    Go to the bug report and read the conversation to find out how this was
    originally found. Answer in longform below in "answer", fill in the date in
    YYYY-MM-DD, and then determine if the vulnerability was found by a Google
    employee (you can tell from their email address). If it's clear that the
    vulenrability was discovered by a contest, fill in the name there.

    The automated, contest, and developer flags can be true, false, or nil.

    If there is no evidence as to how this vulnerability was found, then please explain where you looked.
  automated: false
  developer: true
description: |-
  This vulnerability occurred because a script for compiling messages was written but the inputs were not being checked to make sure that they were not malicious in nature. The script's job was to make OS-level commands and if the inputs were not checked correctly, changes could be made to the system. If some of these commands are executed, hackers can take over the system by giving themselves access to files and system functions that they should not be able to reach normally.
  The fix to this vulnerability was passing the input into a system tool that sanitizes and removes any possibly malicious strings or characters in the command like ";" and "$"
unit_tested:
  fix: false
  code: false
  question: |
    Were automated unit tests involved in this vulnerability?
    Was the original code unit tested, or not unit tested? Did the fix involve
    improving the automated tests?

    For code: and fix: - your answer should be boolean.

    For the code_answer below, look not only at the fix but the surrounding
    code near the fix in related directories and determine if and was there were unit tests involved for this subsystem. The code

    For the fix_answer below, check if the fix for the vulnerability involves
    adding or improving an automated test to ensure this doesn't happen again.
  fix_answer: No unit tests were created after the vulnerability was fixed
  code_answer: No unit test was found related to this functionality of the system
discoverable: 
reported_date: '2007-01-19'
specification:
  answer: false
  answer_note: None of the specifications were mentioned and it was just a small error
    of not sanitizing inputs by the code writer
  instructions: |
    Is there mention of a violation of a specification? For example,
    an RFC specification, a protocol specification, or a requirements
    specification.

    Be sure to check all artifacts for this: bug report, security
    advisory, commit message, etc.

    The answer field should be boolean. In answer_note, please explain
    why you come to that conclusion.
announced_date: 2007-01-23T00:28Z
curation_level: 1
published_date: '2007-01-23'
CWE_instructions: |
  Please go to http://cwe.mitre.org and find the most specific, appropriate CWE
  entry that describes your vulnerability. We recommend going to
  https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/699.html for the Software Development
  view of the vulnerabilities. We also recommend the tool
  http://www.cwevis.org/viz to help see how the classifications work.

  If you have anything to note about why you classified it this way, write
  something in CWE_note. This field is optional.

  Just the number here is fine. No need for name or CWE prefix. If more than one
  apply here, then choose the best one and mention the others in CWE_note.
yaml_instructions: |
  ===YAML Primer===
  This is a dictionary data structure, akin to JSON.
  Everything before a colon is a key, and the values here are usually strings
  For one-line strings, you can just use quotes after the colon
  For multi-line strings, as we do for our instructions, you put a | and then
  indent by two spaces

  For readability, we hard-wrap multi-line strings at 80 characters. This is
  not absolutely required, but appreciated.
bounty_instructions: |
  If you came across any indications that a bounty was paid out for this
  vulnerability, fill it out here. Or correct it if the information already here
  was wrong. Otherwise, leave it blank.
interesting_commits:
  commits:
  - note: 
    commit: 
  - note: 
    commit: 
  question: |
    Are there any interesting commits between your VCC(s) and fix(es)?

    Write a brief (under 100 words) description of why you think this commit was
    interesting in light of the lessons learned from this vulnerability. Any
    emerging themes?
curated_instructions: |
  If you are manually editing this file, then you are "curating" it.

  Set the version number that you were given in your instructions.

  This will enable additional editorial checks on this file to make sure you
  fill everything out properly. If you are a student, we cannot accept your work
  as finished unless curated is properly updated.
upvotes_instructions: |
  For the first round, ignore this upvotes number.

  For the second round of reviewing, you will be giving a certain amount of
  upvotes to each vulnerability you see. Your peers will tell you how
  interesting they think this vulnerability is, and you'll add that to the
  upvotes score on your branch.
nickname_instructions: |
  A catchy name for this vulnerability that would draw attention it. If the
  report mentions a nickname, use that. Must be under 30 characters.
  Optional.
reported_instructions: |
  What date was the vulnerability reported to the security team? Look at the
  security bulletins and bug reports. It is not necessarily the same day that the
  CVE was created.  Leave blank if no date is given.
  Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
announced_instructions: |
  Was there a date that this vulnerability was announced to the world? You can
  find this in changelogs, blogs, bug reports, or perhaps the CVE date. A good
  source for this is Chrome's Stable Release Channel
  (https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/).
  Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
fixes_vcc_instructions: |
  Please put the commit hash in "commit" below (see my example in
  CVE-2011-3092.yml). Fixes and VCCs follow the same format.
published_instructions: |
  Is there a published fix or patch date for this vulnerability?
  Please enter your date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
description_instructions: |
  You can get an initial description from the CVE entry on cve.mitre.org. These
  descriptions are a fine start, but they can be kind of jargony.

  Rewrite this description IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Make it interesting and easy to
  read to anyone with some programming experience. We can always pull up the NVD
  description later to get more technical.

  Try to still be specific in your description, but remove project-specific
  stuff. Remove references to versions, specific filenames, and other jargon
  that outsiders to this project would not understand. Technology like "regular
  expressions" is fine, and security phrases like "invalid write" are fine to
  keep too.

  Your target audience is people just like you before you took any course in
  security

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