VNX-15 – External Control of System or Configuration Setting

Overview

VNX-15 maps to CWE-15: External Control of System or Configuration Setting. Detects source patterns associated with CWE-15 (External Control of System or Configuration Setting). Each finding should be manually reviewed for exploitability in context.

Severity: Medium | CWE: CWE-15 | Languages: go, node, python

Why This Matters

This weakness class (External Control of System or Configuration Setting) creates a concrete exploit surface: the rule searches for the concrete source-level patterns most commonly associated with CWE-15 and surfaces them for review. Each finding should be evaluated in context — the rule catches the pattern, not the context.

What Gets Flagged

// FLAGGED: contains 'os.Setenv(' pattern
os.Setenv(

// FLAGGED: contains 'os.environ[' pattern
os.environ[

// FLAGGED: contains 'req.body' pattern
req.body

Remediation

  1. Review each flagged line and determine whether the pattern represents a real instance of CWE-15 or a false positive.
  2. Replace the flagged construct with a documented safe alternative appropriate to your language and framework.
  3. For confirmed false positives, add a # vulnetix-ignore: VNX-15 comment on the line.
  4. Ensure equivalent test coverage exists to prevent regression.

References