The software performs an iteration or loop without sufficiently limiting the number of times that the loop is executed.
Extended Description
If the iteration can be influenced by an attacker, this weakness could allow attackers to consume excessive resources such as CPU or memory. In many cases, a loop does not need to be infinite in order to cause enough resource consumption to adversely affect the software or its host system; it depends on the amount of resources consumed per iteration.
Excessive looping will cause unexpected consumption of resources,
such as CPU cycles or memory. The software's operation may slow down, or
cause a long time to respond. If limited resources such as memory are
consumed for each iteration, the loop may eventually cause a crash or
program exit due to exhaustion of resources, such as an out-of-memory
error.
Detection Methods
Dynamic Analysis with manual results interpretation
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be
useful:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Fuzz Tester
Framework-based Fuzzer
Forced Path Execution
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Manual Static Analysis - Source Code
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be
useful:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Focused Manual Spotcheck - Focused manual analysis of
source
Manual Source Code Review (not inspections)
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Automated Static Analysis - Source Code
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be
useful:
Highly cost effective:
Context-configured Source Code Weakness Analyzer
Effectiveness: SOAR High
Architecture / Design Review
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be
useful:
[REF-7] Mark Dowd, John McDonald
and Justin Schuh. "The Art of Software Security Assessment". Chapter 7, "Looping Constructs", Page
327.. 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. 2006.
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Page Last Updated:
May 05, 2017
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Description
