Command Injection in Java: Examples and Prevention

Command injection is a critical security vulnerability where attackers execute unauthorized OS commands on a host system through an application, often leading to severe consequences like data theft or system shutdowns. This vulnerability typically arises when applications use system commands with user-provided data that isn't properly sanitized, as demonstrated in a Java example where user inputs are executed as system commands. To mitigate such risks, several preventative measures are recommended, including avoiding system commands when possible, using libraries that handle tasks more securely, escaping special characters in inputs, applying the principle of least privilege, implementing allowlists or denylists for commands, and conducting thorough security testing. These strategies collectively enhance application security by reducing the potential for command injection attacks.