CWE-75: Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection)
The product does not adequately filter user-controlled input for special elements with control implications.
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Overview
CWE-75 (Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection)) is a class-level software weakness catalogued by MITRE in the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE). It describes a recurring type of mistake that can lead to exploitable security vulnerabilities.
Real-world CVEs
32 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-75 (Failure to Sanitize Special Elements into a Different Plane (Special Element Injection)). The highest-severity and most recent are shown first. 4 new CWE-75 CVEs have been recorded so far in 2026 (2 in 2025).
- CVE-2025-50213
Apache Airflow Providers Snowflake: Potential SQL injection in CopyFromExternalStageToSnowflakeOperator
Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 45th2025-06-24 - CVE-2024-39227Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 66th2024-08-06
- CVE-2024-39243Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 40th2024-06-26
- CVE-2024-35373Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 65th2024-05-24
- CVE-2023-27533Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 79th2023-03-30
- CVE-2021-22910Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 82th2021-08-09
- CVE-2021-22911Critical · CVSS 9.8 · EPSS 100th2021-05-27
- CVE-2024-27708Critical · CVSS 9.6 · EPSS 46th2025-12-22
- CVE-2026-31908
Apache APISIX: forward auth plugin allows header injection
Critical · CVSS 9.1 · EPSS 42th2026-04-14 - CVE-2022-24039Critical · CVSS 9.0 · EPSS 78th2022-05-10
- CVE-2026-29042
Nuclio Shell Runtime Command Injection Leading to Privilege Escalation
High · CVSS 8.9 · EPSS 82th2026-03-06 - CVE-2023-1758High · CVSS 8.9 · EPSS 43th2023-04-05
Showing 12 of 32 recorded CWE-75 CVEs. Track new ones as they are published and get AI-written analysis and fixes.
Monitor CWE-75 vulnerabilitiesCommon consequences
What can happen when CWE-75 is exploited.
Modify Application Data, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Affects: Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability
How it happens
When it is introduced
Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.
How to prevent it
Practical mitigations for CWE-75, grouped by where in the lifecycle they apply.
Programming languages and supporting technologies might be chosen which are not subject to these issues.
Utilize an appropriate mix of allowlist and denylist parsing to filter special element syntax from all input.
Terminology & mappings
Mapped taxonomies
- PLOVER: Special Element Injection
Attack patterns
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit this weakness.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CWE-75.
- What is CWE-75?
- The product does not adequately filter user-controlled input for special elements with control implications.
- What CVEs are caused by CWE-75?
- 32 recorded CVEs are attributed to CWE-75, including CVE-2025-50213, CVE-2024-39227, CVE-2024-39243.
- How do you prevent CWE-75?
- Programming languages and supporting technologies might be chosen which are not subject to these issues.
- What are the consequences of CWE-75?
- Exploiting CWE-75 can lead to: Modify Application Data, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands.
- Is CWE-75 actively exploited?
- 32 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-75; none are currently in CISA's KEV catalog of actively exploited flaws.
References
- MITRE CWE definition (CWE-75) (opens in a new tab)
- CWE-75 vulnerabilities on NVD (opens in a new tab)
- Learn: What is a CWE?
Weakness data is sourced from the MITRE CWE catalog (v4.20). CVE associations are aggregated and kept current by RadicalNotion.AI.
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