OS Command Injection Defense Cheat Sheet — Introduction

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions). Command injection (or OS Command Injection) is a type of injection where software that constructs a system command using externally influenced input does not correctly neutralize the input from special elements that can modify the initially intended command. For example, if the supplied value is when typed in a Windows command prompt, the application Calculator is displayed. However, if the supplied value has been tampered with, and now it is when executed, it changes the meaning of the initial intended value. Now, both the Calculator application and the value test are displayed The problem is exacerbated if the compromised process does not follow the principle of least privileges and attacker-controlled commands end up running with special system privileges that increase the amount of damage. Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, removed long code blocks, and shortened it for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.