CWE-382
Weakness AllowedJ2EE Bad Practices: Use of System.exit()
Abstraction: Variant · Status: Draft
A J2EE application uses System.exit().
Dimensions
- Framework: J2EE
- Other: Bad Practices
- Behavior-Type: Use
- Code-Type: System.exit()
Mapping guidance
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.
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.
Modes of introduction
A call to System.exit() is probably part of leftover debug code or code imported from a non-J2EE application.
Detection methods
Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)
Effectiveness: High
Content history
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updated Description, Modes_of_Introduction, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations
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0 vulnerabilities reference this CWE, most recent first.
No vulnerabilities reference this CWE.
Mitigation
Strategy: Separation of Privilege
The shutdown function should be a privileged function available only to a properly authorized administrative user.
Mitigation
Web applications should not call methods that cause the virtual machine to exit, such as System.exit().
Mitigation
Web applications should not throw any Throwables to the application server, as this may adversely affect the container.
Mitigation
Non-web applications may have a main() method that contains a System.exit(), but generally should not call System.exit() from other locations in the code.
No CAPEC attack patterns related to this CWE.