ABSTRACT

Multiple Struts2 validator references with the same name exist. Duplicate validator references are an indication that validation is not up to date.

EXPLANATION

More than one validator definition was discovered in validators.xml. Multiple validation definitions with the same name may result in unexpected behavior.

If two validation classes are defined with the same name, the Struts Validator arbitrarily chooses one of the forms to use for input validation and discards the other. This decision might not correspond to the programmer's expectations. Moreover, it indicates that the validation logic is not being maintained, and can indicate that other, more subtle, validation errors are present.

It is critically important that validation logic be maintained and kept in sync with the rest of the application. Unchecked input is the root cause of some of today's worst and most common software security problems. Cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and process control vulnerabilities all stem from incomplete or absent input validation. Although J2EE applications are not generally susceptible to memory corruption attacks, if a J2EE application interfaces with native code that does not perform array bounds checking, an attacker may be able to use an input validation mistake in the J2EE application to launch a buffer overflow attack.

REFERENCES

[1] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 - (OWASP 2004) A10 Insecure Configuration Management

[2] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2010 - (OWASP 2010) A6 Security Misconfiguration

[3] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3 - (STIG 3) APP3510 CAT I

[4] Standards Mapping - FIPS200 - (FISMA) CM

[5] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration - (CWE) CWE ID 101

[6] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 - (PCI 1.1) Requirement 6.5.10

[7] T. Husted et al. Struts in Action: Building Web Applications with the Leading Java Framework Manning Publications

[8] The Struts2 Validation Framework The Apache Foundation