BaseIncomplete

CWE-643Improper Neutralization of Data within XPath Expressions ('XPath Injection')

Category: injection

Description

The product uses external input to dynamically construct an XPath expression used to retrieve data from an XML database, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes that input. This allows an attacker to control the structure of the query. The net effect is that the attacker will have control over the information selected from the XML database and may use that ability to control application flow, modify logic, retrieve unauthorized data, or bypass important checks (e.g. authentication).

Common consequences· 2

  • Access Control — Bypass Protection Mechanism
    Controlling application flow (e.g. bypassing authentication).
  • Confidentiality — Read Application Data
    The attacker could read restricted XML content.

Potential mitigations· 2

  • [Implementation]Use parameterized XPath queries (e.g. using XQuery). This will help ensure separation between data plane and control plane.
  • [Implementation]Properly validate user input. Reject data where appropriate, filter where appropriate and escape where appropriate. Make sure input that will be used in XPath queries is safe in that context.

References

  1. https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/643.html

(incoming)1

TypeTargetConfidenceTier
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-24343cve-2026-243430%live

Related by meaning· 6

Nearest entities by semantic similarity across the cs-graph corpus.

CWE
Improper Neutralization of Data within XQuery Expressions ('XQuery Injection')
CWE
XML Injection (aka Blind XPath Injection)
CWE
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CWE
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an LDAP Query ('LDAP Injection')
CWE
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an Expression Language Statement ('Expression Language Injection')
CWE
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Sourced from MITRE CWE 4.20. Curated for EU compliance use cases by Adam Lundqvist, Founder at SQUR.