CWE

Common Weakness Enumeration

A Community-Developed List of Software & Hardware Weakness Types

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Home > CWE List > CWE- Individual Dictionary Definition (4.10)  
ID

CWE-589: Call to Non-ubiquitous API

Weakness ID: 589
Abstraction: Variant
Structure: Simple
View customized information:
+ Description
The product uses an API function that does not exist on all versions of the target platform. This could cause portability problems or inconsistencies that allow denial of service or other consequences.
+ Extended Description
Some functions that offer security features supported by the OS are not available on all versions of the OS in common use. Likewise, functions are often deprecated or made obsolete for security reasons and should not be used.
+ Relationships
Section HelpThis 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)
NatureTypeIDName
ChildOfBaseBase - 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.474Use of Function with Inconsistent Implementations
+ 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.
PhaseNote
Architecture and Design
Implementation
+ 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.
ScopeImpactLikelihood
Other

Technical Impact: Quality Degradation

+ Potential Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Always test your code on any platform on which it is targeted to run on.

Phase: Testing

Test your code on the newest and oldest platform on which it is targeted to run on.

Phase: Testing

Develop a system to test for API functions that are not portable.
+ Weakness Ordinalities
OrdinalityDescription
Indirect
(where the weakness is a quality issue that might indirectly make it easier to introduce security-relevant weaknesses or make them more difficult to detect)
+ 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.
NatureTypeIDName
MemberOfCategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.850The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011) Chapter 7 - Methods (MET)
MemberOfCategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.858The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011) Chapter 15 - Serialization (SER)
MemberOfCategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.1001SFP Secondary Cluster: Use of an Improper API
MemberOfCategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.1140SEI CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java - Guidelines 06. Methods (MET)
+ Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy NameNode IDFitMapped Node Name
The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011)MET02-JDo not use deprecated or obsolete classes or methods
The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011)SER00-JMaintain serialization compatibility during class evolution
Software Fault PatternsSFP3Use of an improper API
+ Content History
+ Submissions
Submission DateSubmitterOrganization
2006-12-15CWE Content TeamMITRE
+ Modifications
Modification DateModifierOrganization
2008-07-01Eric DalciCigital
updated Time_of_Introduction
2008-09-08CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships, Other_Notes
2008-10-14CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Description
2009-07-27CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations
2011-06-01CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011-06-27CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2012-05-11CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2012-10-30CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Potential_Mitigations
2014-07-30CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2017-11-08CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships
2019-01-03CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings, Weakness_Ordinalities
2020-02-24CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships
2023-01-31CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Description
+ Previous Entry Names
Change DatePrevious Entry Name
2008-04-11Call to Limited API
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Page Last Updated: January 31, 2023