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Home > CWE List > CWE-1024: Comparison of Incompatible Types (5.0)  
ID

CWE-1024: Comparison of Incompatible Types

Weakness ID: 1024
Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource.
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+ Description
The product performs a comparison between two entities, but the entities are of different, incompatible types that cannot be guaranteed to provide correct results when they are directly compared.
+ Dimensions
Section HelpThe Dimensions table provides information about the different dimensions associated with this weakness. The Type identifies the dimension type, while the Value provides the specific value for that dimension.
TypeValue
Behavior-TypeComparison
Code-TypeTypes
Code-PropertyIncompatible
+ Common Consequences
Section HelpThis table 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.
Impact Details

Varies by Context

Scope: Other

+ Relationships
Section Help This table 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, Overlaps, and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.
+ Relevant to the view "Complete Weakness Hierarchy" (View-1000)
Nature Type ID Name
ChildOf Pillar Pillar - a weakness that is the most abstract type of weakness and represents a theme for all class/base/variant weaknesses related to it. A Pillar is different from a Category as a Pillar is still technically a type of weakness that describes a mistake, while a Category represents a common characteristic used to group related things. 697 Incorrect Comparison
+ Relevant to the view "Software Development" (View-699)
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf Grouping Grouping - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 19 Data Processing Errors
+ Modes Of Introduction
Section HelpThe 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(s) Note

Implementation

In languages that are strictly typed but support casting/conversion, such as C or C++, the programmer might assume that casting one entity to the same type as another entity will ensure that the comparison will be performed correctly, but this cannot be guaranteed. In languages that are not strictly typed, such as PHP or JavaScript, there may be implicit casting/conversion to a type that the programmer is unaware of, causing unexpected results; for example, the string "123" might be converted to a number type.
+ Applicable Platforms
Section HelpThis listing shows 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.
Type Applicable Platforms Notes
Languages

JavaScript (Undetermined Prevalence)

PHP (Undetermined Prevalence)

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)

+ Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality Description
Primary
(where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
+ Detection Methods
Method Details

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Manual Static Analysis

Thoroughly test the comparison scheme before deploying code into production. Perform positive testing as well as negative testing.
+ Memberships
Section HelpThis 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 GroupingGrouping - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1397 Comprehensive Categorization: Comparison
+ Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Usage ALLOWED
(this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
Reason Acceptable-Use

Rationale

This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Comments

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
+ Content History
+ Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2018-01-04
(CWE 3.1, 2018-03-29)
CWE Content Team MITRE
+ Modifications
Modification Date Modifier Organization
2026-10-28
(CWE 5.0, 2026-10-28)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Dimensions, Type
2026-04-30
(CWE 4.20, 2026-04-30)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Detection_Factors, Potential_Mitigations
2025-12-11
(CWE 4.19, 2025-12-11)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description, Detection_Factors, Modes_of_Introduction
2023-06-29
(CWE 4.12, 2023-06-29)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023-04-27
(CWE 4.11, 2023-04-27)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2023-01-31
(CWE 4.10, 2023-01-31)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description
2020-02-24
(CWE 4.0, 2020-02-24)
CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
Page Last Updated: Oct 28, 2026