cve.bz

CAPEC-160

Exploit Script-Based APIs

Medium severityStandard pattern

Some APIs support scripting instructions as arguments. Methods that take scripted instructions (or references to scripted instructions) can be very flexible and powerful. However, if an attacker can specify the script that serves as input to these methods they can gain access to a great deal of functionality. For example, HTML pages support <script> tags that allow scripting languages to be embedded in the page and then interpreted by the receiving web browser. If the content provider is malicious, these scripts can compromise the client application. Some applications may even execute the scripts under their own identity (rather than the identity of the user providing the script) which can allow attackers to perform activities that would otherwise be denied to them.

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Show the promptExplain the attack pattern CAPEC-160: Exploit Script-Based APIs: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/160.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/160?via=ask-ai-copy, which lists recent CVEs with the weaknesses it exploits. Cite the sources.

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How the attack unfolds

  1. Explore

    The attacker looks for a way in.

    1. [Identify API] Discover an API of interest by exploring application documentation or observing responses to API calls

      1 technique
      • Search via internet for known, published APIs that support scripting instructions as arguments

  2. Experiment

    They probe what they found.

    1. [Test simple script] Adversaries will attempt to give a smaller script as input to the API, such as simply printing to the console, to see if the attack is viable.

      1 technique
      • Create a general script to be taken as input by the API

  3. Exploit

    They carry out the attack.

    1. [Give malicious scripting instructions to API] Adversaries will now craft custom scripts to do malicious behavior. Depending on the setup of the application this script could be run with user or admin level priveleges.

      1 technique
      • Crafting a malicious script to be run on a system based on priveleges and capabilities of the system

Prerequisites

  • The target application must include the use of APIs that execute scripts.

  • The target application must allow the attacker to provide some or all of the arguments to one of these script interpretation methods and must fail to adequately filter these arguments for dangerous or unwanted script commands.

Resources required

  • None: No specialized resources are required to execute this type of attack.

Weaknesses it exploits

Recent CVEs with these weaknesses

  1. 8.1CVE-2026-108187

    Origin Validation Error in Zoom Workplace for Windows may allow an unauthenticated user to conduct an escalation of privilege via network access.

  2. 7.4CVE-2026-123801

    SuperTokens Core is an open source authentication server. From 11.3.0 until 11.3.8, 11.4.8, 12.0.11, 12.1.2, 12.2.1, and 12.3.1, SAML.handleCallback does not consume RelayState, record assertion identifiers, or enforce Response.InResponseT…

  3. 6.3CVE-2026-124249

    http.cookiejar.CookieJar deleted a stored cookie when a response carried an already expired Set-Cookie header for it, using the Domain and Path attributes from the header without consulting the cookie policy. A server could therefore delet…

  4. 6.0CVE-2026-123499

    Vikunja veans before 2.7.1 contains a credential exposure vulnerability that allows malicious repository authors to capture API tokens by specifying an attacker-controlled server in .veans.yml. When veans runs in an untrusted checkout, it …

  5. 8.1CVE-2026-102344

    Lavish is the new editor for your HTML artifacts. Prior to 0.1.43, the lavish-axi loopback HTTP server did not authenticate requests or validate Host and Origin values on session, artifact, prompt, and polling routes. A website visited whi…

  6. 5.9CVE-2026-116630

    undici is an HTTP client for Node.js. In versions 7.0.0 through 7.30.1 and 8.0.0 through 8.12.3, when an Agent composes the redirect and shared cache interceptors, a cached response that is revalidated with a conditional request can be val…

  7. 7.4CVE-2026-116592

    undici is an HTTP client for Node.js. In versions 7.30.1 and 8.12.2 through 8.12.3, when an originless Agent composes the redirect and shared cache interceptors, undici decides whether to store the final response under the original request…

  8. 5.1CVE-2026-123272

    Mark3labs mcp-go before v1.2.1 contains an improper validation vulnerability in OAuthHandler.fetchServerMetadata that allows malicious MCP servers to obtain tokens for other resources by declaring arbitrary resources in well-known metadata…

The newest records naming one of them. Each weakness's page lists them all.

Part of

MITRE's words, unchanged: CAPEC-160 at MITRE. CAPEC is Copyright © 2007–2026, The MITRE Corporation, used under the CAPEC terms of use: “The MITRE Corporation (MITRE) hereby grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC™) for research, development, and commercial purposes. Any copy you make for such purposes is authorized provided that you reproduce MITRE’s copyright designation and this license in any such copy.” CAPEC and the CAPEC logo are trademarks of The MITRE Corporation. Credits. All attack patterns.