CAPEC-230
Serialized Data with Nested Payloads
Applications often need to transform data in and out of a data format (e.g., XML and YAML) by using a parser. It may be possible for an adversary to inject data that may have an adverse effect on the parser when it is being processed. Many data format languages allow the definition of macro-like structures that can be used to simplify the creation of complex structures. By nesting these structures, causing the data to be repeatedly substituted, an adversary can cause the parser to consume more resources while processing, causing excessive memory consumption and CPU utilization.
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An adversary's goal is to leverage parser failure to their advantage. In most cases this type of an attack will result in a Denial of Service due to an application becoming unstable, freezing, or crashing. However it may be possible to cause a crash resulting in arbitrary code execution, leading to a jump from the data plane to the control plane [REF-89].
This attack is most closely associated with web services using SOAP or a Rest API, because remote service requesters can post malicious payloads to the service provider. The main weakness is that the service provider generally must inspect, parse, and validate the messages to determine routing, workflow, security considerations, and so on. It is exactly these inspection, parsing, and validation routines that this attack targets. This attack exploits the loosely coupled nature of web services, where the service provider has little to no control over the service requester and any messages the service requester sends.
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Explain the attack pattern CAPEC-230: Serialized Data with Nested Payloads: how it unfolds, what it needs and how to prevent and detect it in my systems. Use https://capec.mitre.org/data/definitions/230.html and https://cve.bz/cve/capec/230?via=ask-ai-copy, which lists recent CVEs with the weaknesses it exploits. Cite the sources.Opens a third-party assistant; its answer is its own, not cve.bz's. The prompt holds only this attack pattern's id and public links.
How the attack unfolds
Explore
The attacker looks for a way in.
An adversary determines the input data stream that is being processed by a data parser that supports using substitution on the victim's side.
Exploit
They carry out the attack.
An adversary crafts input data that may have an adverse effect on the operation of the parser when the data is parsed on the victim's system.
Prerequisites
An application's user-controllable data is expressed in a language that supports subsitution.
An application does not perform sufficient validation to ensure that user-controllable data is not malicious.
Signs of an attack
Bad data is passed to the data parser (possibly repeatedly), possibly making it crash or execute arbitrary code.
Consequences
| Impact | Affects | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Resource Consumption | Availability | |
| Read Data | Confidentiality | |
| Execute Unauthorized Commands | Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability | |
| Gain Privileges | Confidentiality, Access Control, Authorization |
Mitigations
Carefully validate and sanitize all user-controllable data prior to passing it to the data parser routine. Ensure that the resultant data is safe to pass to the data parser.
Perform validation on canonical data.
Pick a robust implementation of the data parser.
Weaknesses it exploits
- CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
- CWE-112 Missing XML Validation
- CWE-674 Uncontrolled Recursion
- CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Recent CVEs with these weaknesses
- –CVE-2026-86531
The embedded OpenEJB HTTP server does not limit the size of incoming request bodies or of multipart requests, and does not remove the temporary files it creates for multipart parts. A remote unauthenticated attacker can cause excessive mem…
- 9.6CVE-2026-108186
Improper Input Validation in Zoom Workplace for Windows may allow an unauthenticated user to conduct an escalation of privilege via network access.
- 4.9CVE-2026-105427
Improper input validation in Ivanti EPMM before version 12.10.0.1, 12.9.0.3, and 12.8.0.5 allows a remote authenticated attacker with admin privileges to permanently disable all Apache HTTPS services resulting in denial of service.
- 6.7CVE-2026-105426
Improper input validation in Ivanti EPMM before version 12.10.0.1, 12.9.0.3, and 12.8.0.5 allows a remote authenticated attacker with admin privileges to set arbitrary Linux kernel parameters as root.
- 4.3CVE-2026-123178
An insufficient input validation vulnerability in the listed NETGEAR Orbi Models router allows an authenticated administrator connected to the local network to execute unauthorized commands and modify the router’s software and functionalit…
- 7.0CVE-2026-114359
Eclipse Kura downloads deployment packages (DPs) from a remote URL without any limit on the size of the data it receives. A malicious or compromised HTTP(S) server, or an attacker able to tamper with a plain-HTTP download, can stream an ar…
- 6.3CVE-2026-125871
The sourcecache expansion module in MISP Modules (misp-modules) contains a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability. When a user with permission to create or modify attributes of type 'link' or 'url' submits an attribute value, the…
- 5.5CVE-2026-125703
A flaw was found in the GStreamer gst-plugins-bad MXF plugin. Insufficient bounds checks when parsing crafted VANC data can cause an out-of-bounds read in the demuxer, while an incorrect buffer size calculation when muxing multiple ancilla…
The newest records naming one of them. Each weakness's page lists them all.
Related attack patterns
- Part of
- CAPEC-130 Excessive Allocation
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