ENV02-A. Beware of multiple environment variables with the same name

The getenv() function searches an environment list for a string that matches a specified name, and returns a pointer to a string associated with the matched list member. Due to the manner in which environment variables are stored, multiple environment variables with the same name can cause unexpected results.

Implementation Details

Depending on the implementation, a program may not consistently choose the same value if there are multiple environment variables with the same name. The GNU glibc library addresses this issue in getenv() and setenv() by always using the first variable it encounters and ignoring the rest. The POSIX unsetenv() function removes all entries matching the variable name. Other implementations are following suit.

char *temp;
char *copy;

if ((temp = getenv("TEST_ENV")) != NULL) {
  copy = (char *)malloc(strlen(temp) + 1);
  if (copy != NULL) {
    strcpy(copy, temp);
  }
  else {
    /* handle error condition */
  }

  copy[0] = 'a';
  setenv("TEST_ENV", copy, 1);
}
else {
  return -1;
}

It is also possible to search the environment for multiple entries of a variable. On POSIX systems, the environ variable can be used for this purpose. Any duplicate values are an indication of an attack; take appropriate action.

Risk Assessment

An adversary could create multiple environment variables with the same name. If the program checks one copy but uses another, security checks may be circumvented.

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

References

[[ISO/IEC 9899-1999]] Section 7.20.4, "Communication with the environment"

ENV01-A. Do not make assumptions about the size of an environment variable      11. Environment (ENV)       ENV03-A. Sanitize the environment before invoking external programs