Security Resilience

CWE · MITRE source

CWE-74Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

Abstraction: Class · CVEs in our corpus: 5,609

The product constructs all or part of a command, data structure, or record using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify how it is parsed or interpreted when it is sent to a downstream component.

Last updated: 15 October 2026 20:36 UTC

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

This weakness contributes to A05:2025 Injection.

Control responseHuman-reviewed

Answering this weakness across the control lifecycle, from our framework cross-walks.

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53 / CSF Protect)
  • SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
  • SI-4 System Monitoring
Detect
Catch it (CSF Detect / Respond)

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Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

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NIST 800-53 r5 controls PROPOSED for this weakness (2)AI-assisted

These are model PROPOSALS, not graded mappings. They come from controls_to_cwe_proposals, which carries no grade field at all; across the CWE pages 1,540 of 1,722 such associations (89%) have never been graded by anything. The heading said “address” until 2026-09-29, which asserted a relationship the data does not carry. Graded cross-walks are on the framework map, not here.

Control Title Family Why it addresses this CWE
SA-11Developer Testing and EvaluationSADeveloper assessments and testing (including injection-focused techniques) identify improper neutralization of special elements, and the verifiable flaw remediation corrects them pre-deployment.
SI-4System MonitoringSIIdentifies indicators of injection attacks (command, SQL, LDAP, etc.) via anomaly and attack monitoring.

Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Published
CVE-2025-20281 KEV 10.010.00.97602025-06-25
CVE-2025-20337 KEV 10.010.00.68002025-07-16
CVE-2013-2251 KEV 9.99.81.00002013-07-20
CVE-2016-4010 9.99.80.92872017-01-23
CVE-2018-16763 9.99.80.82942018-09-09
CVE-2019-2725 KEV 9.99.80.99982019-04-26
CVE-2019-11581 KEV 9.99.80.84622019-08-09
CVE-2012-1495 9.99.80.79762020-01-27
CVE-2013-3214 9.99.80.84542020-01-28
CVE-2020-17496 KEV 9.99.80.87482020-08-12
CVE-2021-38294 9.99.80.83802021-10-25
CVE-2022-35914 KEV 9.99.80.99882022-09-19
CVE-2022-46169 KEV 9.99.80.99832022-12-05
CVE-2023-22527 KEV 9.99.80.99982024-01-16
CVE-2013-2010 9.89.80.73862020-02-12
CVE-2020-9757 9.89.80.72822020-03-04
CVE-2020-13942 9.89.80.68302020-11-24
CVE-2021-21242 9.810.00.74192021-01-15
CVE-2021-3197 9.89.80.71682021-02-27
CVE-2023-30547 9.89.80.72972023-04-17
CVE-2023-37462 9.69.90.91592023-07-14
CVE-2022-31126 9.510.00.52652022-07-06
CVE-2022-2992 9.59.90.86192022-10-17
CVE-2023-29524 9.59.90.75692023-04-19
CVE-2023-29525 9.59.90.77752023-04-19