CWE - CWE-495: Private Data Structure Returned From A Public Method (4.10)

Weakness ID: 495

Abstraction: Variant
Structure: Simple

View customized information:

Description

The product has a method that is declared public, but returns a reference to a private data structure, which could then be modified in unexpected ways.

Relationships

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 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	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.	664	Improper Control of a Resource Through its Lifetime

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

This 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.

Languages

C (Undetermined Prevalence)

C++ (Undetermined Prevalence)

Java (Undetermined Prevalence)

C# (Undetermined Prevalence)

Common Consequences

This 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.

Scope	Impact	Likelihood
Integrity	Technical Impact: Modify Application Data The contents of the data structure can be modified from outside the intended scope.

Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

Here, a public method in a Java class returns a reference to a private array. Given that arrays in Java are mutable, any modifications made to the returned reference would be reflected in the original private array.

(bad code)

Example Language: Java

private String[] colors;
public String[] getColors() {

return colors;

}

Example 2

In this example, the Color class defines functions that return non-const references to private members (an array type and an integer type), which are then arbitrarily altered from outside the control of the class.

(bad code)

Example Language: C++

class Color
{

private:

int[2] colorArray;
int colorValue;

public:

Color () : colorArray { 1, 2 }, colorValue (3) { };
int[2] & fa () { return colorArray; } // return reference to private array
int & fv () { return colorValue; } // return reference to private integer

};

int main ()
{

Color c;

c.fa () [1] = 42; // modifies private array element
c.fv () = 42; // modifies private int

return 0;

}

Potential Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Declare the method private.

Phase: Implementation

Clone the member data and keep an unmodified version of the data private to the object.

Phase: Implementation

Use public setter methods that govern how a private member can be modified.

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.	485	7PK - Encapsulation
MemberOf	View - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries).	884	CWE Cross-section
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	963	SFP Secondary Cluster: Exposed Data

Taxonomy Mappings

Mapped Taxonomy Name	Node ID	Fit	Mapped Node Name
7 Pernicious Kingdoms			Private Array-Typed Field Returned From A Public Method
Software Fault Patterns	SFP23		Exposed Data

References

[REF-6] Katrina Tsipenyuk, Brian Chess and Gary McGraw. "Seven Pernicious Kingdoms: A Taxonomy of Software Security Errors". NIST Workshop on Software Security Assurance Tools Techniques and Metrics. NIST. 2005-11-07. <https://samate.nist.gov/SSATTM_Content/papers/Seven%20Pernicious%20Kingdoms%20-%20Taxonomy%20of%20Sw%20Security%20Errors%20-%20Tsipenyuk%20-%20Chess%20-%20McGraw.pdf>.

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006-07-19	7 Pernicious Kingdoms
2006-07-19
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2008-07-01	Sean Eidemiller	Cigital
2008-07-01	added/updated demonstrative examples
2008-07-01	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008-07-01	updated Time_of_Introduction
2008-08-01		KDM Analytics
2008-08-01	added/updated white box definitions
2008-09-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-09-08	updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011-06-01	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-06-01	updated Common_Consequences
2012-05-11	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-05-11	updated Common_Consequences, Relationships
2012-10-30	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-10-30	updated 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 Relationships, White_Box_Definitions
2019-01-03	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019-01-03	updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Name, Potential_Mitigations
2020-02-24	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-02-24	updated References, Relationships
Previous Entry Names
Change Date	Previous Entry Name
2019-01-03	Private Array-Typed Field Returned From A Public Method


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Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-495: Private Data Structure Returned From A Public Method