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: Swallowed ThreadDeath
Abstract
If a
ThreadDeath error is not re-thrown, the thread in question might not actually die.Explanation
ThreadDeath errors should only be caught if an applications needs to clean up after being terminated asynchronously. If a ThreadDeath error is caught, it is important that it be re-thrown so that the thread actually dies. The purpose of throwing ThreadDeath is to stop a thread. If ThreadDeath is swallowed, it can prevent a thread from stopping and result in unexpected behavior since whoever originally threw ThreadDeath expects the thread to stop.Example 1: The following code catches
ThreadDeath but does not re-throw it.
try
{
//some code
}
catch(ThreadDeath td)
{
//clean up code
}
References
[1] Oracle Class ThreadDeath
[2] Scott Oaks, Henry Wong Java Threads O'Reilly
[3] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration CWE ID 705
[4] Standards Mapping - DISA Control Correlation Identifier Version 2 CCI-001312, CCI-001314, CCI-003272
[5] Standards Mapping - General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Indirect Access to Sensitive Data
[6] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools (P2), SI-11 Error Handling (P2)
[7] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 SA-15 Development Process and Standards and Tools, SI-11 Error Handling
[8] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[9] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.3 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[10] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.4 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[11] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.5 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[12] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.6 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[13] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.7 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[14] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.8 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[15] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.9 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[16] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.10 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[17] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.11 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[18] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[19] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.1 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[20] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.2 APSC-DV-002570 CAT II, APSC-DV-002580 CAT II, APSC-DV-003235 CAT II
[21] 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_swallowed_threaddeath