XML External Entities attacks benefit from an XML feature to build documents dynamically at the time of processing. An XML entity allows to include data dynamically from a given resource. External entities allow an XML document to include data from an external URI. Unless configured to do otherwise, external entities force the XML parser to access the resource specified by the URI, such as a file on the local machine or on a remote systems. This behavior exposes the application to XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, which can cause denial of service of the local system, gain unauthorized access to files on the local machine, scan remote machines, and perform denial of service of remote systems.

The following ABAP code demonstrates insecure XML parsing:

...
DATA(ixml) = cl_ixml=>create( ).
DATA(stream_factory) = ixml->create_stream_factory( ).
istream = stream_factory->create_istream_string(
  `<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> ` &&
  `<!DOCTYPE foo [ <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd"> ]> ` &&
  `<stockCheck>&xxe;</stockCheck>` ).
istream->set_dtd_restriction( level = 0 ).
DATA(document) = ixml->create_document( ).
parser = ixml->create_parser(
                          stream_factory = stream_factory
                          istream        = istream
                          document       = document ).
parser->set_validating( mode = `0` ).
DATA(rc) = parser->parse( ).
...

This example can disclose the contents of the '/etc/passwd' password file on Linux systems if the XML parser attempts to substitute the entity with the contents of the file.

XML External Entities attacks benefit from an XML feature to build documents dynamically at the time of processing. An XML entity allows to include data dynamically from a given resource. External entities allow an XML document to include data from an external URI. Unless configured to do otherwise, external entities force the XML parser to access the resource specified by the URI, e.g., a file on the local machine or on a remote systems. This behavior exposes the application to XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, which can be used to perform denial of service of the local system, gain unauthorized access to files on the local machine, scan remote machines, and perform denial of service of remote systems.

The following XML document shows an example of an XXE attack.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
  <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
  <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/winnt/win.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

This example could disclose the contents of the C:\winnt\win.ini system file, if the XML parser attempts to substitute the entity with the contents of the file.

XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an <ENTITY> element of the DTD (Document Type Definition) in an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert nested entity references and cause an XML parser consume ever increasing amounts of CPU resources. In more nefarious cases of XML external entity injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that expose the contents of local file system resources or reveal the existence of internal network resources.

Example 1:Here is some Objective-C code that is vulnerable to XXE attacks:

- (void) parseSomeXML: (NSString *) rawXml {

    BOOL success;
    NSData *rawXmlConvToData = [rawXml dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
    NSXMLParser *myParser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData:rawXmlConvToData];
    [myParser setShouldResolveExternalEntities:YES];
    [myParser setDelegate:self];
}

Assume an attacker is able to control rawXml such that the XML looks like the following:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
   <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
   <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/boot.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

When the XML is evaluated by the server, the <foo> element will contain the contents of the boot.ini file.

XML External Entity attacks benefit from an XML feature to dynamically build documents at runtime. An XML entity allows inclusion of data dynamically from a given resource. External entities allow an XML document to include data from an external URI. Unless configured to do otherwise, external entities force the XML parser to access the resource specified by the URI, such as a file on the local machine or on a remote system. This behavior exposes the application to XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, which enables attackers to perform denial of service of the local system, gain unauthorized access to files on the local machine, scan remote machines, and perform denial of service of remote systems.


Example 1: The following XML document shows an example of an XXE attack.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
  <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
  <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///dev/random" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

This example could crash the server (on a UNIX system) if the XML parser attempts to substitute the entity with the contents of the /dev/random file.

XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an <ENTITY> element of the DTD (Document Type Definition) in an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert nested entity references and cause an XML parser consume ever increasing amounts of CPU resources. In more nefarious cases of XML external entity injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that expose the contents of local file system resources or reveal the existence of internal network resources.

Example 1:Here is some code that is vulnerable to XXE attacks:

- (void) parseSomeXML: (NSString *) rawXml {

    BOOL success;
    NSData *rawXmlConvToData = [rawXml dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
    NSXMLParser *myParser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData:rawXmlConvToData];
    [myParser setShouldResolveExternalEntities:YES];
    [myParser setDelegate:self];
}

Assume an attacker is able to control rawXml such that the XML looks like the following:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
   <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
   <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/boot.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

When the XML is evaluated by the server, the <foo> element will contain the contents of the boot.ini file.

XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert nested entity references and cause an XML parser to consume ever increasing amounts of CPU resources. In more nefarious cases of XML external entity injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that expose the contents of local file system resources, reveal the existence of internal network resources or expose backend content itself.

Example 1: Here is some code that is vulnerable to XXE attacks:

Assume an attacker is able to control the input XML to the following code:

...
<?php
$goodXML = $_GET["key"];
$doc = simplexml_load_string($goodXml);
echo $doc->testing;
?>
...

Now suppose that the following XML is passed by the attacker to the code in Example 2:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
   <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
   <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/boot.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

When the XML is processed, the content of the <foo> element is populated with the contents of the system's boot.ini file. The attacker may utilize XML elements which are returned to the client to exfiltrate data or obtain information as to the existence of network resources.

XML External Entities attacks benefit from an XML feature to dynamically build documents at runtime. An XML entity allows inclusion of data dynamically from a given resource. External entities allow an XML document to include data from an external URI. Unless configured to do otherwise, external entities force the XML parser to access the resource specified by the URI, such as a file on the local machine or on a remote system. This behavior exposes the application to XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, which attackers can use to perform denial of service of the local system, gain unauthorized access to files on the local machine, scan remote machines, and perform denial of service of remote systems.


Example 1: The following XML document shows an example of an XXE attack.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
  <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
  <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///dev/random" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

This example could crash the server (on a UNIX system), if the XML parser attempts to substitute the entity with the contents of the /dev/random file.

XML External Entities attacks benefit from an XML feature to build documents dynamically at the time of processing. An XML entity allows inclusion of data dynamically from a given resource. External entities allow an XML document to include data from an external URI. Unless configured to do otherwise, external entities force the XML parser to access the resource specified by the URI, e.g., a file on the local machine or on a remote system. This behavior exposes the application to XML External Entity (XXE) attacks, which can be used to perform denial of service of the local system, gain unauthorized access to files on the local machine, scan remote machines, and perform denial of service of remote systems.

The following XML document shows an example of an XXE attack.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
  <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
  <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

The example XML document will read the contents of /etc/passwd and include them into the document.

Example 1: The following code uses an insecure XML parser to process untrusted input from an HTTP request.

def readFile() = Action { request =>
    val xml = request.cookies.get("doc")
    val doc = XMLLoader.loadString(xml)
    ...
}

XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an <ENTITY> element of the DTD (Document Type Definition) in an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert nested entity references and cause an XML parser consume ever increasing amounts of CPU resources. In more nefarious cases of XML external entity injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that expose the contents of local file system resources or reveal the existence of internal network resources.

Example 1:Here is some code that is vulnerable to XXE attacks:

func parseXML(xml: String) {
    parser = NSXMLParser(data: rawXml.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding)!)
    parser.delegate = self
    parser.shouldResolveExternalEntities = true
    parser.parse()
}

Assume an attacker is able to control rawXml contents such that the XML looks like the following:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
   <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
   <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/boot.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

When the XML is evaluated by the server, the <foo> element will contain the contents of the boot.ini file.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker can insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker can add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. Sometimes XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker can control shoes in following XML:

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back-end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using ABAP iXML parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This enables the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to send sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can even lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.


2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker can insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker can add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. Sometimes XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker can control shoes in following XML:

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back-end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.


2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker can control shoes in the following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

This may allow an attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.


2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using XML parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.


A more serious form of this attack called XML External Entity (XXE) injection can occur when the attacker controls the front or all of the parsed XML document.

Example 2: Here is some code that is vulnerable to XXE attacks:

Assume an attacker is able to control the input XML to the following code:

...
<?php
$goodXML = $_GET["key"];
$doc = simplexml_load_string($goodXml);
echo $doc->testing;
?>
...

Now suppose that the following XML is passed by the attacker to the code in Example 2:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
 <!DOCTYPE foo [
   <!ELEMENT foo ANY >
   <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///c:/boot.ini" >]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

When the XML is processed, the content of the <foo> element is populated with the contents of the system's boot.ini file. The attacker may utilize XML elements which are returned to the client to exfiltrate data or obtain information as to the existence of network resources.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document or parsed as XML.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XML document or parsed as XML.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XML injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.


2. The data is written to an XML document.

Applications typically use XML to store data or send messages. When used to store data, XML documents are often treated like databases and can potentially contain sensitive information. XML messages are often used in web services and can also be used to transmit sensitive information. XML messages can even be used to send authentication credentials.

The semantics of XML documents and messages can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write raw XML. In the most benign case, an attacker may be able to insert extraneous tags and cause an XML parser to throw an exception. In more nefarious cases of XML injection, an attacker may be able to add XML elements that change authentication credentials or modify prices in an XML e-commerce database. In some cases, XML injection can lead to cross-site scripting or dynamic code evaluation.

Example 1:

Assume an attacker is able to control shoes in the following XML.

<order>
   <price>100.00</price>
   <item>shoes</item>
</order>

Now suppose this XML is included in a back end web service request to place an order for a pair of shoes. Suppose the attacker modifies his request and replaces shoes with shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes. The new XML would look like:

<order>
    <price>100.00</price>
    <item>shoes</item><price>1.00</price><item>shoes</item>
</order>

When using SAX parsers, the value from the second <price> overrides the value from the first <price> tag. This allows the attacker to purchase a pair of $100 shoes for $1.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

...
string acctID = Request["acctID"];
string query = null;
if(acctID != null) {
       StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("/accounts/account[acctID='");
       sb.append(acctID);
       sb.append("']/email/text()");
       query = sb.toString();
}

XPathDocument docNav = new XPathDocument(myXml);
XPathNavigator nav = docNav.CreateNavigator();
nav.Evaluate(query);
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant base query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.




2. The data used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following Objective-C code, which calls C APIs, dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

...
    NSString *accountStr = account.text;

    xmlXPathContextPtr xpathCtx;
    NSString *query = @"/accounts/account[actId='" + accountStr + @"']/email/text()";

    xpathCtx = xmlXPathNewContext(doc);

    /* Evaluate XPath expression */
    xmlChar *queryString =
        (xmlChar *)[query cStringUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
    xpathObj = xmlXPathEvalExpression(queryString, xpathCtx);
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant base query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

query = "/accounts/account[acctID='" & url.acctID & "']/email/text()";
selectedElements = XmlSearch(myxmldoc, query);

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant base query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.




2. The data used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

...
    NSString *accountStr = account.text;

    xmlXPathContextPtr xpathCtx;
    NSString *query = @"/accounts/account[actId='" + accountStr + @"']/email/text()";

    xpathCtx = xmlXPathNewContext(doc);

    /* Evaluate XPath expression */
    xmlChar *queryString =
        (xmlChar *)[query cStringUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
    xpathObj = xmlXPathEvalExpression(queryString, xpathCtx);
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant base query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data is used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

...
<?php
load('articles.xml');

$xpath = new DOMXPath($doc);
$emailAddrs = $xpath->query("/accounts/account[acctID='" . $_GET["test1"] . "']/email/text()");
//$arts = $xpath->evaluate("/accounts/account[acctID='" . $_GET["test1"] . "']/email/text()")

foreach ($emailAddrs as $email)
{
    echo $email->nodeValue."";
}
	?>
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XPath injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data is used to dynamically construct an XPath query.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XPath query that retrieves an email address for a given account ID. The account ID is read from an HTTP request, and is therefore untrusted.

...
tree = etree.parse('articles.xml')
emailAddrs = "/accounts/account[acctID=" + request.GET["test1"] + "]/email/text()"
r = tree.xpath(emailAddrs)
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for an email address that belongs to the account number 1, the query that this code executes will look like the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1']/email/text()

However, because the query is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if acctID does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string 1' or '1' = '1 for acctID, then the query becomes the following:

/accounts/account[acctID='1' or '1' = '1']/email/text()

The addition of the 1' or '1' = '1 condition causes the where clause to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//email/text()

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query must only return items owned by the authenticated user. The query now returns all email addresses stored in the document, regardless of their specified owner.

XQuery injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data used to dynamically construct an XQuery expression.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XQuery expression that retrieves a user account for a given username and password combination. The username and password are read from an HTTP request, and are therefore untrusted.

  ...

  String squery = "for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='" + Request["username"] + "'and pass='" + Request["password"] + "'] return \$user";

  Processor processor = new Processor();

  XdmNode indoc = processor.NewDocumentBuilder().Build(new Uri(Server.MapPath("users.xml")));

  StreamReader query = new StreamReader(squery);
  XQueryCompiler compiler = processor.NewXQueryCompiler();
  XQueryExecutable exp = compiler.Compile(query.ReadToEnd());
  XQueryEvaluator eval = exp.Load();
  eval.ContextItem = indoc;

  Serializer qout = new Serializer();
  qout.SetOutputProperty(Serializer.METHOD, "xml");
  qout.SetOutputProperty(Serializer.DOCTYPE_PUBLIC, "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN");
  qout.SetOutputProperty(Serializer.DOCTYPE_SYSTEM, "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd");
  qout.SetOutputProperty(Serializer.INDENT, "yes");
  qout.SetOutputProperty(Serializer.OMIT_XML_DECLARATION, "no");

  qout.SetOutputWriter(Response.Output);
  eval.Run(qout);

  ...
  

Under normal conditions, such as searching for a user account with the appropriate username and password, the expression that this code executes will look like the following:

for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='test_user' and pass='pass123'] return \$user

However, because the expression is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant base query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if username or password does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string admin' or 1=1 or ''=' for username, then the query becomes the following:

for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='admin' or 1=1 or ''='' and password='x' or ''=''] return \$user

The addition of the admin' or 1=1 or ''=' condition causes the XQuery expression to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//user[username='admin']

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query match the password; the query now returns the admin user stored in the document, regardless of the entered password.

XQuery injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.



2. The data is used to dynamically construct an XQuery expression.

Example 1: The following code dynamically constructs and executes an XQuery expression that retrieves a user account for a given username and password combination. The username and password are read from an HTTP request, and are therefore untrusted.

...

$memstor = InMemoryStore::getInstance();
$z = Zorba::getInstance($memstor);

try {
  // get data manager
  $dataman = $z->getXmlDataManager();

  // load external XML document
  $dataman->loadDocument('users.xml', file_get_contents('users.xml'));

  // create and compile query
  $express =
"for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='" . $_GET["username"] . "'and pass='" . $_GET["password"] . "'] return \$user"

  $query = $zorba->compileQuery($express);

  // execute query
  $result = $query->execute();



?>
...

Under normal conditions, such as searching for a user account with the appropriate username and password, the expression that this code executes will look like the following:

for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='test_user' and pass='pass123'] return \$user

However, because the expression is constructed dynamically by concatenating a constant query string and a user input string, the query only behaves correctly if username or password does not contain a single-quote character. If an attacker enters the string admin' or 1=1 or ''=' for username, then the query becomes the following:

for \$user in doc(users.xml)//user[username='admin' or 1=1 or ''='' and password='x' or ''=''] return \$user

The addition of the admin' or 1=1 or ''=' condition causes the XQuery expression to always evaluate to true, so the query becomes logically equivalent to the much simpler query:

//user[username='admin']

This simplification of the query allows the attacker to bypass the requirement that the query match the password; the query now returns the admin user stored in the document, regardless of the entered password.

XSLT injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XSL stylesheet.


Applications typically use XSL stylesheet to transform XML documents from one format to another. XSL stylesheets include special functions which enhance the transformation process but introduce additional vulnerabilities if used incorrectly.

The semantics of XSL stylesheets and processing can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write XSL elements in a stylesheet. An attacker could alter the output of a stylesheet such that an XSS (cross-site scripting) attack was enabled, expose the contents of local file system resources, or execute arbitrary code.

Example 1: Here is some code that is vulnerable to XSLT Injection:

  ...
  String xmlUrl = Request["xmlurl"];
  String xslUrl = Request["xslurl"];

  XslCompiledTransform xslt = new XslCompiledTransform();
  xslt.Load(xslUrl);

  xslt.Transform(xmlUrl, "books.html");
  ...
  

Example 1 results in three different exploits when the attacker passes the identified XSL to the XSTL processor:

1. XSS:

  <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
    <xsl:template match="/">
      <script>alert(123)</script>
    </xsl:template>
  </xsl:stylesheet>

  

When the XSL stylesheet is processed, the <script> tag is rendered to the victim's browser allowing a cross-site scripting attack to be performed.

2. Reading of arbitrary files on the server's file system:

  <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
    <xsl:template match="/">
      <xsl:copy-of select="document('file:///c:/winnt/win.ini')"/>
    </xsl:template>
  </xsl:stylesheet>

  

The preceding XSL stylesheet will return the contents of the /etc/passwd file.

3. Execution of arbitrary code:

The XSLT processor has the ability to expose native language methods as XSLT functions if they are not disabled.

  <xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt" xmlns:App="http://www.tempuri.org/App">
    <msxsl:script implements-prefix="App" language="C#">
      <![CDATA[
        public string ToShortDateString(string date)
          {
              System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("cmd.exe");
              return "01/01/2001";
          }
      ]]>
    </msxsl:script>
    <xsl:template match="ArrayOfTest">
      <TABLE>
        <xsl:for-each select="Test">
          <TR>
          <TD>
            <xsl:value-of select="App:ToShortDateString(TestDate)" />
          </TD>
          </TR>
        </xsl:for-each>
      </TABLE>
    </xsl:template>
  </xsl:stylesheet>

  

The preceding stylesheet will execute the "cmd.exe" command on the server.

XSLT injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XSL stylesheet.


Applications typically use XSL stylesheet to transform XML documents from one format to another. XSL stylesheets include special functions which enhance the transformation process but introduce additional vulnerabilities if used incorrectly.

The semantics of XSL stylesheets and processing can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write XSL elements in a stylesheet. An attacker could alter the output of a stylesheet such that an XSS (cross-site scripting) attack was enabled, expose the contents of local file system resources, or execute arbitrary code. If the attacker had complete control over the stylesheet submitted to the application, then the attacker could also execute an XXE (XML external entity) injection attack.

Example 1: Here is some code that is vulnerable to XSLT Injection:

...
<?php

$xml = new DOMDocument;
$xml->load('local.xml');

$xsl = new DOMDocument;
$xsl->load($_GET['key']);

$processor = new XSLTProcessor;
$processor->registerPHPFunctions();
$processor->importStyleSheet($xsl);

echo $processor->transformToXML($xml);

?>
...

The code in Example 1 results in three different exploits when the attacker passes the identified XSL to the XSTL processor:

1. XSS:

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<xsl:template match="/">
<script>alert(123)</script>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

When the XSL stylesheet is processed, the <script> tag is rendered to the victim's browser allowing a cross-site scripting attack to be performed.

2. Reading of arbitrary files on the server's file system:

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:copy-of select="document('/etc/passwd')"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The preceding XSL stylesheet will return the contents of the /etc/passwd file.

3. Execution of arbitrary PHP code:

The XSLT processor has the ability to expose native PHP language methods as XSLT functions by enabling "registerPHPFunctions".

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" xmlns:php="http://php.net/xsl">
<xsl:template match="/">
<xsl:value-of select="php:function('passthru','ls -la')"/>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The preceding stylesheet will output the results of the "ls" command on the server.

XSLT injection occurs when:

1. Data enters a program from an untrusted source.

2. The data is written to an XSL stylesheet.


Applications typically use XSL stylesheet to transform XML documents from one format to another. XSL stylesheets include special functions which enhance the transformation process but introduce additional vulnerabilities if used incorrectly.

The semantics of XSL stylesheets and processing can be altered if an attacker has the ability to write XSL elements in a stylesheet. An attacker could alter the output of a stylesheet such that an XSS (cross-site scripting) attack was enabled, expose the contents of local file system resources, or execute arbitrary code.

Example 1: Here is some code that is vulnerable to XSLT Injection:

...
xml = StringIO.StringIO(request.POST['xml'])
xslt = StringIO.StringIO(request.POST['xslt'])

xslt_root = etree.XML(xslt)
transform = etree.XSLT(xslt_root)
result_tree = transform(xml)
return render_to_response(template_name, {'result': etree.tostring(result_tree)})
...

The code in Example 1 results in three different exploits when the attacker passes the identified XSL to the XSTL processor:

1. XSS:

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <script>alert(123)</script>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

When the XSL stylesheet is processed, the <script> tag is rendered to the victim's browser allowing a cross-site scripting attack to be performed.

2. Reading of arbitrary files on the server's file system:

<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0" xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:copy-of select="document('/etc/passwd')"/>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

The preceding XSL stylesheet will return the contents of the /etc/passwd file.