CWE-470 Unsafe Reflection
What this means
SiteShadow flagged reflection or dynamic class/module loading that is influenced by untrusted input. Reflection is powerful, but if attackers can choose what gets loaded or invoked, they can often bypass intended restrictions.
Why it matters
Unsafe reflection can load unexpected classes or behaviors.
- Unexpected code paths: attackers trigger internal functionality not meant to be exposed.
- RCE risk in some stacks if reflection can load arbitrary classes/modules.
- Authorization bypass if "which handler to run" is client-controlled.
Safer examples
1) Replace reflection with allowlisted dispatch
handlers = {"create": create_user, "delete": delete_user}
handler = handlers.get(action)
if not handler:
raise ValueError("Invalid action")
handler()2) Don't build class/module names from user input
Map user input to known implementations instead.
3) Add authorization around dynamic dispatch
Even with allowlists, ensure the selected action is authorized for the caller.
How SiteShadow detects it (high level)
- Detects reflection/dynamic import APIs and tracks whether the target name comes from untrusted input.
- Flags patterns where user input selects a class/method/module without allowlisting.
References
- CWE-470: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/470.html
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