CWE - CWE-365: Race Condition in Switch (4.4)

Weakness ID: 365

Abstraction: Base
Structure: Simple

Status: Draft

Presentation Filter:

Description

The code contains a switch statement in which the switched variable can be modified while the switch is still executing, resulting in unexpected behavior.

Extended Description

This issue is particularly important in the case of switch statements that involve fall-through style case statements - i.e., those which do not end with break. If the variable being tested by the switch changes in the course of execution, this could change the intended logic of the switch so much that it places the process in a contradictory state and in some cases could even result in memory corruption.

Relationships

The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.

Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)

Nature	Type	ID	Name
ChildOf	Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	367	Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
PeerOf	Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	364	Signal Handler Race Condition
PeerOf	Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	366	Race Condition within a Thread

Relevant to the view "Software Development" (CWE-699)

Nature	Type	ID	Name
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	557	Concurrency Issues

Modes Of Introduction

The different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.

Phase	Note
Implementation

Applicable Platforms

The listings below show possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.

Languages

C (Undetermined Prevalence)

C++ (Undetermined Prevalence)

Java (Undetermined Prevalence)

C# (Undetermined Prevalence)

Common Consequences

The table below specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.

Scope	Impact	Likelihood
Integrity Other	Technical Impact: Alter Execution Logic; Unexpected State This weakness may lead to unexpected system state, resulting in unpredictable behavior.

Likelihood Of Exploit

Medium

Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

This example has a switch statement that executes different code depending on the current time.

(bad code)

Example Language: C

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
int main(argc,argv){

struct stat *sb;
time_t timer;
lstat("bar.sh",sb);
printf("%d\n",sb->st_ctime);
switch(sb->st_ctime % 2){

case 0: printf("One option\n");
break;
case 1: printf("another option\n");
break;
default: printf("huh\n");
break;

}
return 0;

}

It seems that the default case of the switch statement should never be reached, as st_ctime % 2 should always be 0 or 1. However, if st_ctime % 2 is 1 when the first case is evaluated, the time may change and st_ctime % 2 may be equal to 0 when the second case is evaluated. The result is that neither case 1 or case 2 execute, and the default option is chosen.

Potential Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Variables that may be subject to race conditions should be locked before the switch statement starts and only unlocked after the statement ends.

Memberships

This MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.

Nature	Type	ID	Name
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	986	SFP Secondary Cluster: Missing Lock

Taxonomy Mappings

Mapped Taxonomy Name	Node ID	Fit	Mapped Node Name
CLASP			Race condition in switch
Software Fault Patterns	SFP19		Missing Lock

References

[REF-18] Secure Software, Inc.. "The CLASP Application Security Process". 2005. <https://cwe.mitre.org/documents/sources/TheCLASPApplicationSecurityProcess.pdf>.

[REF-44] Michael Howard, David LeBlanc and John Viega. "24 Deadly Sins of Software Security". "Sin 13: Race Conditions." Page 205. McGraw-Hill. 2010.

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006-07-19	CLASP
2006-07-19
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2008-07-01	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008-07-01	updated Time_of_Introduction
2008-09-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-09-08	updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008-11-24	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-11-24	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2010-09-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010-09-27	updated Relationships
2011-06-01	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-06-01	updated Common_Consequences
2011-06-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-06-27	updated Common_Consequences
2012-05-11	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-05-11	updated Demonstrative_Examples, References, Relationships
2014-06-23	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014-06-23	updated Common_Consequences, Description, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations
2014-07-30	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014-07-30	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2017-11-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-11-08	updated Demonstrative_Examples
2019-01-03	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019-01-03	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2020-02-24	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-02-24	updated Description, References, Relationships


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Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-365: Race Condition in Switch