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Common Weakness Enumeration

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Home > CWE List > CWE-12: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Page (4.16)  
ID

CWE-12: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Page

Weakness ID: 12
Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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+ Description
An ASP .NET application must enable custom error pages in order to prevent attackers from mining information from the framework's built-in responses.
+ Common Consequences
Section HelpThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
Scope Impact Likelihood
Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Application Data

Default error pages gives detailed information about the error that occurred, and should not be used in production environments. Attackers can leverage the additional information provided by a default error page to mount attacks targeted on the framework, database, or other resources used by the application.
+ Potential Mitigations

Phase: System Configuration

Handle exceptions appropriately in source code. ASP .NET applications should be configured to use custom error pages instead of the framework default page.

Phase: Architecture and Design

Do not attempt to process an error or attempt to mask it.

Phase: Implementation

Verify return values are correct and do not supply sensitive information about the system.
+ Relationships
Section Help This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.
+ Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)
Nature Type ID Name
ChildOf Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 756 Missing Custom Error Page
+ Background Details
The mode attribute of the <customErrors> tag defines whether custom or default error pages are used.
+ Modes Of Introduction
Section HelpThe different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.
Phase Note
Implementation
Operation
+ Applicable Platforms
Section HelpThis listing shows possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.

Languages

ASP.NET (Undetermined Prevalence)

+ Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

The mode attribute of the <customErrors> tag in the Web.config file defines whether custom or default error pages are used.

In the following insecure ASP.NET application setting, custom error message mode is turned off. An ASP.NET error message with detailed stack trace and platform versions will be returned.

(bad code)
Example Language: ASP.NET 
<customErrors mode="Off" />

A more secure setting is to set the custom error message mode for remote users only. No defaultRedirect error page is specified. The local user on the web server will see a detailed stack trace. For remote users, an ASP.NET error message with the server customError configuration setting and the platform version will be returned.

(good code)
Example Language: ASP.NET 
<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" />

Another secure option is to set the mode attribute of the <customErrors> tag to use a custom page as follows:

(good code)
Example Language: ASP.NET 
<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="YourErrorPage.htm" />

+ Memberships
Section HelpThis MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 2 7PK - Environment
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 731 OWASP Top Ten 2004 Category A10 - Insecure Configuration Management
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 963 SFP Secondary Cluster: Exposed Data
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1405 Comprehensive Categorization: Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions
+ Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Usage: ALLOWED

(this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)

Reason: Acceptable-Use

Rationale:

This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Comments:

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
+ Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy Name Node ID Fit Mapped Node Name
7 Pernicious Kingdoms ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Handling
+ References
[REF-6] Katrina Tsipenyuk, Brian Chess and Gary McGraw. "Seven Pernicious Kingdoms: A Taxonomy of Software Security Errors". NIST Workshop on Software Security Assurance Tools Techniques and Metrics. NIST. 2005-11-07. <https://samate.nist.gov/SSATTM_Content/papers/Seven%20Pernicious%20Kingdoms%20-%20Taxonomy%20of%20Sw%20Security%20Errors%20-%20Tsipenyuk%20-%20Chess%20-%20McGraw.pdf>.
[REF-65] M. Howard, D. LeBlanc and J. Viega. "19 Deadly Sins of Software Security". McGraw-Hill/Osborne. 2005-07-26.
[REF-66] OWASP, Fortify Software. "ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Handling". <http://www.owasp.org/index.php/ASP.NET_Misconfiguration:_Missing_Custom_Error_Handling>.
+ Content History
+ Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2006-07-19
(CWE Draft 3, 2006-07-19)
7 Pernicious Kingdoms
+ Modifications
Modification Date Modifier Organization
2008-07-01 Eric Dalci Cigital
updated References, Demonstrative_Example, Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
2008-09-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships, Other_Notes, References, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008-10-14 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2008-11-24 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations
2009-03-10 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Name, Relationships
2009-07-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Background_Details, Common_Consequences, Other_Notes
2011-06-01 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2011-06-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2012-05-11 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships
2012-10-30 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Potential_Mitigations
2013-02-21 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Potential_Mitigations
2014-07-30 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2017-11-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships
2020-02-24 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References, Relationships
2023-04-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2023-06-29 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
+ Previous Entry Names
Change Date Previous Entry Name
2009-03-10 ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Handling
Page Last Updated: November 19, 2024