CWE-683: Function Call With Incorrect Order of Arguments
Function Call With Incorrect Order of Arguments
Weakness ID: 683 (Weakness Variant)
Status: Draft
Description
Description Summary
The software calls a function, procedure, or routine, but the
caller specifies the arguments in an incorrect order, leading to resultant
weaknesses.
Extended Description
While this weakness might be caught by the compiler in some languages, it
can occur more frequently in cases in which the called function accepts
variable numbers or types of arguments, such as format strings in C. It also
can occur in languages or environments that do not enforce strong
typing.
Time of Introduction
Implementation
Modes of Introduction
This problem typically occurs when the programmer makes a typo, or copy
and paste errors.
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
The following PHP method authenticates a user given a
username/password combination but is called with the parameters in reverse
order.
Application calls functions with arguments in the
wrong order, allowing attacker to bypass intended access
restrictions.
Potential Mitigations
Phase
Description
Use the function, procedure, or routine as specified.
Because this function call often produces incorrect behavior it will
usually be detected during testing or normal operation of the software.
During testing exercise all possible control paths will typically expose
this weakness except in rare cases when the incorrect function call
accidentally produces the correct results or if the provided argument
type is very similar to the expected argument type.
Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality
Description
Primary
(where the
weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
Description
