CAPEC Definitions

    CAPEC Definitions / CAPEC-201

    CAPEC-201: Serialized Data External Linking

    An adversary creates a serialized data file (e.g. XML, YAML, etc...) that contains an external data reference. Because serialized data parsers may not validate documents with external references, there may be no checks on the nature of the reference in the external data. This can allow an adversary to open arbitrary files or connections, which may further lead to the adversary gaining access to information on the system that they would normally be unable to obtain.

    Severity:High
    Possibility:High

    Extended Description

    No Extended Description.

    Mitigations

    Configure the serialized data processor to only retrieve external entities from trusted sources.

    Relationships with other CAPECs

    CAPEC-122: Privilege Abuse

    CAPEC-278: Web Services Protocol Manipulation

    Prerequisites

    The target must follow external data references without validating the validity of the reference target.

    Related Weaknesses

    CWE-829: Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere