Kingdom: Errors

Errors and error handling represent a class of API. Errors related to error handling are so common that they deserve a special kingdom of their own. As with "API Abuse," there are two ways to introduce an error-related security vulnerability: the most common one is handling errors poorly (or not at all). The second is producing errors that either give out too much information (to possible attackers) or are difficult to handle.

Poor Error Handling: Overly Broad Catch

Abstract
The catch block handles a broad swath of exceptions, potentially trapping dissimilar issues or problems that should not be dealt with at this point in the program.
Explanation
Multiple catch blocks can get repetitive, but "condensing" catch blocks by catching a high-level class such as Exception can obscure exceptions that deserve special treatment or that should not be caught at this point in the program. Catching an overly broad exception essentially defeats the purpose of .NET's typed exceptions, and can become particularly dangerous if the program grows and begins to throw new types of exceptions. The new exception types will not receive any attention.

Example: The following code excerpt handles three types of exceptions in an identical fashion.


try {
DoExchange();
}
catch (IOException e) {
logger.Error("DoExchange failed", e);
}
catch (FormatException e) {
logger.Error("DoExchange failed", e);
}
catch (TimeoutException e) {
logger.Error("DoExchange failed", e);
}


At first blush, it may seem preferable to deal with these exceptions in a single catch block, as follows:


try {
DoExchange();
}
catch (Exception e) {
logger.Error("DoExchange failed", e);
}


However, if DoExchange() is modified to throw a new type of exception that should be handled in some different kind of way, the broad catch block will prevent the compiler from pointing out the situation. Further, the new catch block will now also handle exceptions of types ApplicationException and NullReferenceException, which is not the programmer's intent.
References
[1] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration CWE ID 396
[2] Standards Mapping - DISA Control Correlation Identifier Version 2 CCI-001312, CCI-001314, CCI-003272
[3] Standards Mapping - FIPS200 AU
[4] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools (P2), SI-11 Error Handling (P2)
[5] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools, SI-11 Error Handling
[6] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 A7 Improper Error Handling
[7] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2007 A6 Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling
[8] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 Requirement 6.5.7
[9] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.2 Requirement 6.3.1.2, Requirement 6.5.6
[10] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 Requirement 6.5.5
[11] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.0 Requirement 6.5.5
[12] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.1 Requirement 6.5.5
[13] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2 Requirement 6.5.5
[14] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2.1 Requirement 6.5.5
[15] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 4.0 Requirement 6.2.4
[16] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.0 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[17] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.1 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[18] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.2 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[19] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.1 APP3120 CAT II
[20] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.4 APP3120 CAT II
[21] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.5 APP3120 CAT II
[22] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.6 APP3120 CAT II
[23] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.7 APP3120 CAT II
[24] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.9 APP3120 CAT II
[25] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.10 APP3120 CAT II
[26] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[27] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.3 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[28] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.4 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[29] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.5 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[30] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.6 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[31] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.7 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[32] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.8 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[33] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.9 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[34] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.10 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[35] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.11 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[36] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[37] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[38] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[39] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.3 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
desc.structural.dotnet.poor_error_handling_overly_broad_catch_block
Abstract
The catch block handles a broad swath of exceptions, potentially trapping dissimilar issues or problems that should not be dealt with at this point in the program.
Explanation
Multiple catch blocks can get repetitive, but "condensing" catch blocks by catching a high-level class such as Exception can obscure exceptions that deserve special treatment or that should not be caught at this point in the program. Catching an overly broad exception essentially defeats the purpose of Java's typed exceptions, and can become particularly dangerous if the program grows and begins to throw new types of exceptions. The new exception types will not receive any attention.

Example: The following code excerpt handles three types of exceptions in an identical fashion.


try {
doExchange();
}
catch (IOException e) {
logger.error("doExchange failed", e);
}
catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
logger.error("doExchange failed", e);
}
catch (SQLException e) {
logger.error("doExchange failed", e);
}


At first blush, it may seem preferable to deal with these exceptions in a single catch block, as follows:


try {
doExchange();
}
catch (Exception e) {
logger.error("doExchange failed", e);
}


However, if doExchange() is modified to throw a new type of exception that should be handled in some different kind of way, the broad catch block will prevent the compiler from pointing out the situation. Further, the new catch block will now also handle exceptions derived from RuntimeException such as ClassCastException, and NullPointerException, which is not the programmer's intent.
References
[1] ERR07-J. Do not throw RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable CERT
[2] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration CWE ID 396
[3] Standards Mapping - DISA Control Correlation Identifier Version 2 CCI-001312, CCI-001314, CCI-003272
[4] Standards Mapping - FIPS200 AU
[5] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools (P2), SI-11 Error Handling (P2)
[6] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools, SI-11 Error Handling
[7] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 A7 Improper Error Handling
[8] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2007 A6 Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling
[9] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 Requirement 6.5.7
[10] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.2 Requirement 6.3.1.2, Requirement 6.5.6
[11] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 Requirement 6.5.5
[12] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.0 Requirement 6.5.5
[13] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.1 Requirement 6.5.5
[14] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2 Requirement 6.5.5
[15] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2.1 Requirement 6.5.5
[16] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 4.0 Requirement 6.2.4
[17] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.0 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[18] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.1 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[19] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.2 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention
[20] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.1 APP3120 CAT II
[21] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.4 APP3120 CAT II
[22] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.5 APP3120 CAT II
[23] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.6 APP3120 CAT II
[24] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.7 APP3120 CAT II
[25] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.9 APP3120 CAT II
[26] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.10 APP3120 CAT II
[27] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[28] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.3 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[29] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.4 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[30] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.5 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[31] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.6 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[32] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.7 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[33] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.8 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[34] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.9 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[35] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.10 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[36] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.11 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[37] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[38] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[39] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[40] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.3 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
desc.structural.java.poor_error_handling_overly_broad_catch