Pattern for string schema in a response is too loose

Issue ID: v3-schema-response-string-loosepattern

Average severity: Medium

Description

The pattern for a string schema is too loosely defined. It does not actually limit what gets passed to the API.

For more details, see the OpenAPI Specification.

Example

The following is an example of how this type of risk could look in your API definition. The defined pattern is so loose that the API effectively accepts any string of any size and value:

{
    "post": {
        "description": "Creates a new pet in the store",
        // ...
        "responses": {
            "200": {
                "description": "success",
                "schema": {
                    "type": "object",
                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/NewPet"
                }
            }
        }
    }, 
    // ...
    "NewPet": {
        "type": "object",
        
        "required": [
            "name"
        ],
        "additionalProperties": false,
        "properties": {
            "name": {
                "type": "string",
                "pattern": ".*"
            }
        }
    }
}

Possible exploit scenario

Attackers strive to make your APIs behave in an unexpected way to learn more about your system or to cause a data breach. Good data definition quality in the schemas used in API responses allows reliably validating that the contents of outgoing API responses are as expected.

While filtering API responses does not block a specific kind of attack, it is there as a damage control mechanism in the unfortunate event that a successful attack has been conducted: it allows blocking the response and prevent attackers from retrieving data they should not access.

In the vast majority of cases (with the notable exception of Denial of Service (DoS and DDoS) attacks) attacks are conducted because attackers want to access data or resources they should not have access to. Often, this means that the structure or the size of the API response changes as a result of a successful attack, compared to a normal API response.

Validating that API responses are as expected can be achieved through proper schema validation of the API responses. The accuracy of this depends on the quality of the response schemas: the better defined your schemas are, the easier it is to detect when something is not right.

Remediation

Set a well-defined regular expression that matches your requirements in the pattern field of string parameters. This ensures that only strings matching the set pattern are accepted.

For example, the API below only accepts UUIDs that are compliant with RFC 4122:

{
    "post": {
        "description": "Creates a new pet in the store",
        // ...
        "responses": {
            "200": {
                "description": "success",
                "schema": {
                    "type": "object",
                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/NewPet"
                }
            }
        }
    }, 
   // ...
    "NewPet": {
        "type": "object",
        "description": "JSON defining a Pet object",
        "additionalProperties": false,
        "required": [
            "name"
        ],
        "properties": {
            "name": {
                "type": "string",
                "maxLength": 10,
                "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9]{3,10}$"
            }       
        }
    }
}

We recommend that you carefully think what kind of regular expression best matches your needs. Do not simply blindly copy the pattern from the code example.

Remember to include the anchors ^ and $ in your regular expression, otherwise the overall length of the pattern could be considered infinite. If you include the anchors in the regular expression and the pattern only has fixed or constant quantifiers (like {10,64}, for example), you do not have to define the property maxLength separately for the object, as the length is fully constrained by the pattern. However, if the regular expression does not include the anchors or its quantifiers are not fixed (like in ^a.*b$), it can be considered to be just a part of a longer string and the property maxLength is required to constrain the length.

For more information on regular expressions, see the following:

The following are examples of regular expressions for some common elements:

Element Examples of regular expressions Examples with escape
Alphanumeric string
  • String with spaces: ^[a-zA-Z0-9 ]*$
  • String without space ^[a-zA-Z0-9]*$
Base64‑encoding (for an image)

^data:image\/(?:gif|png|jpeg|bmp|webp)(?:;charset=utf-8)?;base64,(?:[A-Za-z0-9]|[+/])+={0,2}$

^data:image\\/(?:gif|png|jpeg|bmp|webp)(?:;charset=utf-8)?;base64,(?:[A-Za-z0-9]|[+/])+={0,2}$
Date and time
  • Date as YYYY-MM-DD, only - as separator: ^([12]\d{3}-(0[1-9]|1[0-2])-(0[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01]))$
  • Date as DD-MM-YYYY, with /, -, or . as separator: ^(?:(?:31(\/|-|\.)(?:0?[13578]|1[02]|(?:Jan|Mar|May|Jul|Aug|Oct|Dec)))\1|(?:(?:29|30)(\/|-|\.)(?:0?[1,3-9]|1[0-2]|(?:Jan|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec))\2))(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2})$|^(?:29(\/|-|\.)(?:0?2|(?:Feb))\3(?:(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?(?:0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|(?:(?:16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00))))$|^(?:0?[1-9]|1\d|2[0-8])(\/|-|\.)(?:(?:0?[1-9]|(?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep))|(?:1[0-2]|(?:Oct|Nov|Dec)))\4(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2})$
  • Date as DD-MM-YYYY, with /, -, or . as separator, checks for leap years: ^(?:(?:31(\/|-|\.)(?:0?[13578]|1[02]))\1|(?:(?:29|30)(\/|-|\.)(?:0?[1,3-9]|1[0-2])\2))(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2})$|^(?:29(\/|-|\.)0?2\3(?:(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?(?:0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|(?:(?:16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00))))$|^(?:0?[1-9]|1\d|2[0-8])(\/|-|\.)(?:(?:0?[1-9])|(?:1[0-2]))\4(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\d)?\d{2})$
  • Time as HH:MM, 24-hour clock, leading 0: ^(0[0-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]$
  • Time as HH:MM, 12-hour clock, leading 0 optional, AM/PM: ^((1[0-2]|0?[1-9]):([0-5][0-9]) ?([AaPp][Mm]))$
  • Time as HH:MM:SS, 24-hour clock: ^(?:[01]\d|2[0123]):(?:[012345]\d):(?:[012345]\d)$
  • Date as YYYY-MM-DD, only - as separator: ^([12]\\d{3}-(0[1-9]|1[0-2])-(0[1-9]|[12]\\d|3[01]))$
  • Date as DD-MM-YYYY, with /, -, or . as separator: ^(?:(?:31(\\/|-|\\.)(?:0?[13578]|1[02]|(?:Jan|Mar|May|Jul|Aug|Oct|Dec)))\\1|(?:(?:29|30)(\\/|-|\\.)(?:0?[1,3-9]|1[0-2]|(?:Jan|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec))\\2))(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?\d{2})$|^(?:29(\\/|-|\\.)(?:0?2|(?:Feb))\\3(?:(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?(?:0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|(?:(?:16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00))))$|^(?:0?[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])(\\/|-|\\.)(?:(?:0?[1-9]|(?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep))|(?:1[0-2]|(?:Oct|Nov|Dec)))\\4(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?\\d{2})$
  • Date as DD-MM-YYYY, with /, -, or . as separator, checks for leap years: ^(?:(?:31(\\/|-|\\.)(?:0?[13578]|1[02]))\\1|(?:(?:29|30)(\\/|-|\\.)(?:0?[1,3-9]|1[0-2])\\2))(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?\d{2})$|^(?:29(\\/|-|\\.)0?2\\3(?:(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?(?:0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])|(?:(?:16|[2468][048]|[3579][26])00))))$|^(?:0?[1-9]|1\\d|2[0-8])(\\/|-|\\.)(?:(?:0?[1-9])|(?:1[0-2]))\\4(?:(?:1[6-9]|[2-9]\\d)?\\d{2})$
  • Time as HH:MM, 24-hour clock, leading 0: ^(0[0-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-3]):[0-5][0-9]$
  • Time as HH:MM, 12-hour clock, leading 0 optional, AM/PM: ^((1[0-2]|0?[1-9]):([0-5][0-9]) ?([AaPp][Mm]))$
  • Time as HH:MM:SS, 24-hour clock: ^(?:[01]\\d|2[0123]):(?:[012345]\\d):(?:[012345]\\d)$
Duration

^\d+:\d{2}:\d{2}$

^\\d+:\\d{2}:\\d{2}$
Email address (common format)

^([a-z0-9_\.-]+)@([\da-z\.-]+)\.([a-z\.]{2,5})$

^([a-z0-9_\\.-]+)@([\\da-z\\.-]+)\\.([a-z\\.]{2,5})$
File
  • File path: ^((\/|\\|\/\/|https?:\\\\|https?:\/\/)[a-z0-9 _@\-^!#$%&+={}.\/\\\[\]]+)+\.[a-z]+$/
  • File name, with 3-letter extension: ^[\w,\s-]+\.[A-Za-z]{3}$
  • File path: ^((\\/|\\\\|\\/\\/|https?:\\\\\\\\|https?:\\/\\/)[a-z0-9 _@\\-^!#$%&+={}.\\/\\\\\\[\\]]+)+\\.[a-z]+$/
  • File name, with 3-letter extension: ^[\\w,\\s-]+\\.[A-Za-z]{3}$
IP address
  • IPv4: ^(([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\.){3}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])$
  • IPv6: ^(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7,7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|fe80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|::(ffff(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])\.){3,3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])\.){3,3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9]))$
  • IPv4: ^(([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\\.){3}([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])$
  • IPv6: ^(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7,7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|fe80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|::(ffff(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])\\.){3,3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9])\\.){3,3}(25[0-5]|(2[0-4]|1{0,1}[0-9]){0,1}[0-9]))$
Numbers
  • Positive whole numbers: ^\d+$/
  • Negative and positive whole and decimal numbers: ^-?\d*(\.\d+)?$
  • Positive whole numbers: ^\\d+$/
  • Negative and positive whole and decimal numbers: ^-?\\d*(\\.\\d+)?$
Password constraints

Password that has:

  • At least 10 but no more than 64 characters
  • At least one digit
  • At least one lowercase letter
  • At least one uppercase letter
  • At least one special character

^(?=.*[0-9])(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[*.!@$%^&(){}[]:;<>,.?/~_+-=|\]).{10,64}$

^(?=.*[0-9])(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[*.!@$%^&(){}[]:;<>,.?/~_+-=|\\]).{10,64}$
Phone number

International phone number, country code optional: ^(?:(?:\(?(?:00|\+)([1-4]\d\d|[1-9]\d?)\)?)?[\-\.\ \\\/]?)?((?:\(?\d{1,}\)?[\-\.\ \\\/]?){0,})(?:[\-\.\ \\\/]?(?:#|ext\.?|extension|x)[\-\.\ \\\/]?(\d+))?$

Use libraries instead or regular expressions to validate phone numbers whenever possible.

^(?:(?:\\(?(?:00|\\+)([1-4]\\d\\d|[1-9]\\d?)\\)?)?[\\-\\.\\ \\\\\\/]?)?((?:\\(?\\d{1,}\\)?[\\-\\.\\ \\\\\\/]?){0,})(?:[\\-\\.\\ \\\\\\/]?(?:#|ext\\.?|extension|x)[\\-\\.\\ \\\\\\/]?(\\d+))?$
URL/URI (with protocol optional)

^(https?:\/\/)?(www\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\+~#=]{2,256}\.[a-z]{2,6}\b([-a-zA-Z0-9@:%_\+.~#?&//=]*)$

^(https?:\\/\\/)?(www\\.)?[-a-zA-Z0-9@:%._\\+~#=]{2,256}\\.[a-z]{2,6}\\b([-a-zA-Z0-9@:%_\\+.~#?&//=]*)$
UUID

^[0-9a-f]{8}-[0-9a-f]{4}-[1-5][0-9a-f]{3}-[89AB][0-9a-f]{3}-[0-9a-f]{12}$