CWE entries in this view (graph) are associated with the Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS, as published by the Securing Energy Infrastructure Executive Task Force (SEI ETF) in March 2022. Weaknesses and categories in this view are focused on issues that affect ICS (Industrial Control Systems) but have not been traditionally covered by CWE in the past due to its earlier emphasis on enterprise IT software. Note: weaknesses in this view are based on "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations and other suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Audience
Stakeholder
Description
Hardware Designers
ICS/OT hardware designers can use this view to ensure a minimal set of weaknesses that should be avoided or mitigated during the design process.
Product Vendors
Product vendors can use this view to ensure that all aspects of the product lifecycle address these weaknesses.
Assessment Tool Vendors
Assessment tool vendors that help to assess potential weaknesses, or avoid them, can use this view to improve their tool's coverage to address more weaknesses.
Academic Researchers
Academic researchers can use this view to identify potential research opportunities that could produce better methods for detection or avoidance of weaknesses in ICS/OT products.
Relationships
The following graph shows the tree-like relationships between weaknesses that exist at different levels of abstraction. At the highest level, categories and pillars exist to group weaknesses. Categories (which are not technically weaknesses) are special CWE entries used to group weaknesses that share a common characteristic. Pillars are weaknesses that are described in the most abstract fashion. Below these top-level entries are weaknesses are varying levels of abstraction. Classes are still very abstract, typically independent of any specific language or technology. Base level weaknesses are used to present a more specific type of weakness. A variant is a weakness that is described at a very low level of detail, typically limited to a specific language or technology. A chain is a set of weaknesses that must be reachable consecutively in order to produce an exploitable vulnerability. While a composite is a set of weaknesses that must all be present simultaneously in order to produce an exploitable vulnerability.
1358 - Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.ICS Communications - (1359)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Communications" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1364 (ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Zone Boundary Failures" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Within an ICS system, for traffic that crosses through network zone boundaries, vulnerabilities arise when those boundaries were designed for safety or other purposes but are being repurposed for security." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres - (669)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1364 (ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures) > 669 (Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres)
The product does not properly transfer a resource/behavior to another sphere, or improperly imports a resource/behavior from another sphere, in a manner that provides unintended control over that resource.
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.Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions - (754)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1364 (ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures) > 754 (Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions)
The product does not check or incorrectly checks for unusual or exceptional conditions that are not expected to occur frequently during day to day operation of the product.
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.Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere - (668)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1364 (ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures) > 668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere)
The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1365 (ICS Communications: Unreliability)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Unreliability" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Vulnerabilities arise in reaction to disruptions in the physical layer (e.g. creating electrical noise) used to carry the traffic." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions - (1384)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1365 (ICS Communications: Unreliability) > 1384 (Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions)
The product does not properly handle unexpected physical or environmental conditions that occur naturally or are artificially induced.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1366 (ICS Communications: Frail Security in Protocols)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Frail Security in Protocols" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Vulnerabilities arise as a result of mis-implementation or incomplete implementation of security in ICS implementations of communication protocols." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm - (327)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1366 (ICS Communications: Frail Security in Protocols) > 327 (Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm)
The product uses a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm or protocol.
Base - 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.Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard - (358)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1359 (ICS Communications) > 1366 (ICS Communications: Frail Security in Protocols) > 358 (Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard)
The product does not implement or incorrectly implements one or more security-relevant checks as specified by the design of a standardized algorithm, protocol, or technique.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture))
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1367 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "External Physical Systems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Due to the highly interconnected technologies in use, an external dependency on another physical system could cause an availability interruption for the protected system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Base - 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.Improper Protection Against Voltage and Clock Glitches - (1247)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1367 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems) > 1247 (Improper Protection Against Voltage and Clock Glitches)
The device does not contain or contains incorrectly implemented circuitry or sensors to detect and mitigate voltage and clock glitches and protect sensitive information or software contained on the device.
Base - 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.Improper Protections Against Hardware Overheating - (1338)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1367 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems) > 1338 (Improper Protections Against Hardware Overheating)
A hardware device is missing or has inadequate protection features to prevent overheating.
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.Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component - (1357)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1367 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems) > 1357 (Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component)
The product is built from multiple separate components, but it uses a component that is not sufficiently trusted to meet expectations for security, reliability, updateability, and maintainability.
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.Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions - (1384)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1367 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems) > 1384 (Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions)
The product does not properly handle unexpected physical or environmental conditions that occur naturally or are artificially induced.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "External Digital Systems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Due to the highly interconnected technologies in use, an external dependency on another digital system could cause a confidentiality, integrity, or availability incident for the protected system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Base - 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.External Control of System or Configuration Setting - (15)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 15 (External Control of System or Configuration Setting)
One or more system settings or configuration elements can be externally controlled by a user.
Base - 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.Expected Behavior Violation - (440)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 440 (Expected Behavior Violation)
A feature, API, or function does not perform according to its specification.
Base - 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.Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection') - (470)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 470 (Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection'))
The product uses external input with reflection to select which classes or code to use, but it does not sufficiently prevent the input from selecting improper classes or code.Reflection Injection
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.Externally Controlled Reference to a Resource in Another Sphere - (610)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 610 (Externally Controlled Reference to a Resource in Another Sphere)
The product uses an externally controlled name or reference that resolves to a resource that is outside of the intended control sphere.
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.Not Using Complete Mediation - (638)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 638 (Not Using Complete Mediation)
The product does not perform access checks on a resource every time the resource is accessed by an entity, which can create resultant weaknesses if that entity's rights or privileges change over time.
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.Insufficient Technical Documentation - (1059)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 1059 (Insufficient Technical Documentation)
The product does not contain sufficient
technical or engineering documentation (whether on paper or
in electronic form) that contains descriptions of all the
relevant software/hardware elements of the product, such as
its usage, structure, architectural components, interfaces, design, implementation,
configuration, operation, etc.
Base - 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.Inconsistency Between Implementation and Documented Design - (1068)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 1068 (Inconsistency Between Implementation and Documented Design)
The implementation of the product is not consistent with the
design as described within the relevant documentation.
Base - 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.Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components - (1104)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 1104 (Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components)
The product relies on third-party components that are not
actively supported or maintained by the original developer or a trusted proxy
for the original developer.
Base - 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.Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable - (1329)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 1329 (Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable)
The product contains a component that cannot be updated or patched in order to remove vulnerabilities or significant bugs.
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.Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component - (1357)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1360 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)) > 1368 (ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems) > 1357 (Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component)
The product is built from multiple separate components, but it uses a component that is not sufficiently trusted to meet expectations for security, reliability, updateability, and maintainability.
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.ICS Supply Chain - (1361)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Supply Chain" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1369 (ICS Supply Chain: IT/OT Convergence/Expansion)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "IT/OT Convergence/Expansion" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The increased penetration of DER devices and smart loads make emerging ICS networks more like IT networks and thus susceptible to vulnerabilities similar to those of IT networks." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') - (636)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1369 (ICS Supply Chain: IT/OT Convergence/Expansion) > 636 (Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open'))
When the product encounters an error condition or failure, its design requires it to fall back to a state that is less secure than other options that are available, such as selecting the weakest encryption algorithm or using the most permissive access control restrictions.Failing Open
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.Improper Access Control - (284)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1369 (ICS Supply Chain: IT/OT Convergence/Expansion) > 284 (Improper Access Control)
The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.Authorization
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1370 (ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Common Mode Frailties" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "At the component level, most ICS systems are assembled from common parts made by other companies. One or more of these common parts might contain a vulnerability that could result in a wide-spread incident." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.Generation of Predictable IV with CBC Mode - (329)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1370 (ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties) > 329 (Generation of Predictable IV with CBC Mode)
The product generates and uses a predictable initialization Vector (IV) with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode, which causes algorithms to be susceptible to dictionary attacks when they are encrypted under the same key.
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.Protection Mechanism Failure - (693)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1370 (ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties) > 693 (Protection Mechanism Failure)
The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.
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.Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component - (1357)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1370 (ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties) > 1357 (Reliance on Insufficiently Trustworthy Component)
The product is built from multiple separate components, but it uses a component that is not sufficiently trusted to meet expectations for security, reliability, updateability, and maintainability.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1371 (ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Undocumented capabilities and configurations pose a risk by not having a clear understanding of what the device is specifically supposed to do and only do. Therefore possibly opening up the attack surface and vulnerabilities." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Hidden Functionality - (912)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1371 (ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features) > 912 (Hidden Functionality)
The product contains functionality that is not documented, not part of the specification, and not accessible through an interface or command sequence that is obvious to the product's users or administrators.
Base - 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.Active Debug Code - (489)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1371 (ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features) > 489 (Active Debug Code)
The product is deployed to unauthorized actors with debugging code still enabled or active, which can create unintended entry points or expose sensitive information.Leftover debug code
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.Insufficient Technical Documentation - (1059)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1371 (ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features) > 1059 (Insufficient Technical Documentation)
The product does not contain sufficient
technical or engineering documentation (whether on paper or
in electronic form) that contains descriptions of all the
relevant software/hardware elements of the product, such as
its usage, structure, architectural components, interfaces, design, implementation,
configuration, operation, etc.
Base - 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.Inclusion of Undocumented Features or Chicken Bits - (1242)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1371 (ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features) > 1242 (Inclusion of Undocumented Features or Chicken Bits)
The device includes chicken bits or undocumented features that can create entry points for unauthorized actors.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1372 (ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "In ICS, when this procurement process results in a vulnerability or component damage, it can have grid impacts or cause physical harm." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1372 (ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption) > 1278 (Missing Protection Against Hardware Reverse Engineering Using Integrated Circuit (IC) Imaging Techniques)
Information stored in hardware may be recovered by an attacker with the capability to capture and analyze images of the integrated circuit using techniques such as scanning electron microscopy.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1372 (ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption) > 1198 (Privilege Separation and Access Control Issues)
Weaknesses in this category are related to features and mechanisms providing hardware-based isolation and access control (e.g., identity, policy, locking control) of sensitive shared hardware resources such as registers and fuses.
Base - 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.Improper Prevention of Lock Bit Modification - (1231)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1372 (ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption) > 1231 (Improper Prevention of Lock Bit Modification)
The product uses a trusted lock bit for restricting access to registers, address regions, or other resources, but the product does not prevent the value of the lock bit from being modified after it has been set.
Base - 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.Security-Sensitive Hardware Controls with Missing Lock Bit Protection - (1233)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1361 (ICS Supply Chain) > 1372 (ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption) > 1233 (Security-Sensitive Hardware Controls with Missing Lock Bit Protection)
The product uses a register lock bit protection mechanism, but it does not ensure that the lock bit prevents modification of system registers or controls that perform changes to important hardware system configuration.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment))
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1373 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Trust Model Problems)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Trust Model Problems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Assumptions made about the user during the design or construction phase may result in vulnerabilities after the system is installed if the user operates it using a different security approach or process than what was designed or built." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Improper Privilege Management - (269)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1373 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Trust Model Problems) > 269 (Improper Privilege Management)
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Base - 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.Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision - (807)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1373 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Trust Model Problems) > 807 (Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision)
The product uses a protection mechanism that relies on the existence or values of an input, but the input can be modified by an untrusted actor in a way that bypasses the protection mechanism.
Base - 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.Acceptance of Extraneous Untrusted Data With Trusted Data - (349)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1373 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Trust Model Problems) > 349 (Acceptance of Extraneous Untrusted Data With Trusted Data)
The product, when processing trusted data, accepts any untrusted data that is also included with the trusted data, treating the untrusted data as if it were trusted.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1374 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Maker Breaker Blindness)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Maker Breaker Blindness" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Lack of awareness of deliberate attack techniques by people (vs failure modes from natural causes like weather or metal fatigue) may lead to insufficient security controls being built into ICS systems." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1375 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Gaps in Details/Data)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Gaps in Details/Data" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Highly complex systems are often operated by personnel who have years of experience in managing that particular facility or plant. Much of their knowledge is passed along through verbal or hands-on training but may not be fully documented in written practices and procedures." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Insufficient Technical Documentation - (1059)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1375 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Gaps in Details/Data) > 1059 (Insufficient Technical Documentation)
The product does not contain sufficient
technical or engineering documentation (whether on paper or
in electronic form) that contains descriptions of all the
relevant software/hardware elements of the product, such as
its usage, structure, architectural components, interfaces, design, implementation,
configuration, operation, etc.
Base - 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.Incomplete Design Documentation - (1110)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1375 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Gaps in Details/Data) > 1110 (Incomplete Design Documentation)
The product's design documentation does not adequately describe
control flow, data flow, system initialization, relationships between tasks,
components, rationales, or other important aspects of the
design.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1376 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Security Gaps in Commissioning)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Security Gaps in Commissioning" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "As a large system is brought online components of the system may remain vulnerable until the entire system is operating and functional and security controls are put in place. This creates a window of opportunity for an adversary during the commissioning process." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Base - 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.Incorrect Default Permissions - (276)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1376 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Security Gaps in Commissioning) > 276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)
During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.
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.Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') - (362)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1376 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Security Gaps in Commissioning) > 362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition'))
The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently.
Base - 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.Use of Default Password - (1393)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1376 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Security Gaps in Commissioning) > 1393 (Use of Default Password)
The product uses default passwords for potentially critical functionality.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1377 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Inherent Predictability in Design)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Inherent Predictability in Design" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The commonality of design (in ICS/SCADA architectures) for energy systems and environments opens up the possibility of scaled compromise by leveraging the inherent predictability in the design." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1362 (ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)) > 1377 (ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Inherent Predictability in Design) > 1278 (Missing Protection Against Hardware Reverse Engineering Using Integrated Circuit (IC) Imaging Techniques)
Information stored in hardware may be recovered by an attacker with the capability to capture and analyze images of the integrated circuit using techniques such as scanning electron microscopy.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance))
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Operations (& Maintenance)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1378 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Gaps in obligations and training)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Gaps in obligations and training" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "OT ownership and responsibility for identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities are not clearly defined or communicated within an organization, leaving environments unpatched, exploitable, and with a broader attack surface." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1379 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Human factors in ICS environments)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Human factors in ICS environments" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Environmental factors in ICS including physical duress, system complexities, and isolation may result in security gaps or inadequacies in the performance of individual duties and responsibilities." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Base - 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.Insufficient Psychological Acceptability - (655)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1379 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Human factors in ICS environments) > 655 (Insufficient Psychological Acceptability)
The product has a protection mechanism that is too difficult or inconvenient to use, encouraging non-malicious users to disable or bypass the mechanism, whether by accident or on purpose.
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.User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information - (451)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1379 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Human factors in ICS environments) > 451 (User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information)
The user interface (UI) does not properly represent critical information to the user, allowing the information - or its source - to be obscured or spoofed. This is often a component in phishing attacks.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1380 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Post-analysis changes)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Post-analysis changes" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Changes made to a previously analyzed and approved ICS environment can introduce new security vulnerabilities (as opposed to safety)." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1381 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Exploitable Standard Operational Procedures)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Exploitable Standard Operational Procedures" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Standard ICS Operational Procedures developed for safety and operational functionality in a closed, controlled communications environment can introduce vulnerabilities in a more connected environment." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Emerging Energy Technologies" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "With the rapid evolution of the energy system accelerated by the emergence of new technologies such as DERs, electric vehicles, advanced communications (5G+), novel and diverse challenges arise for secure and resilient operation of the system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Improper Input Validation - (20)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 20 (Improper Input Validation)
The product receives input or data, but it does
not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the
properties that are required to process the data safely and
correctly.
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.Improper Authorization - (285)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 285 (Improper Authorization)
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.AuthZ
Base - 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.Improper Certificate Validation - (295)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 295 (Improper Certificate Validation)
The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.
Base - 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.Improper Following of a Certificate's Chain of Trust - (296)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 296 (Improper Following of a Certificate's Chain of Trust)
The product does not follow, or incorrectly follows, the chain of trust for a certificate back to a trusted root certificate, resulting in incorrect trust of any resource that is associated with that certificate.
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.Origin Validation Error - (346)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 346 (Origin Validation Error)
The product does not properly verify that the source of data or communication is valid.
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.Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification) - (406)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 406 (Insufficient Control of Network Message Volume (Network Amplification))
The product does not sufficiently monitor or control transmitted network traffic volume, so that an actor can cause the product to transmit more traffic than should be allowed for that actor.
Base - 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.URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect') - (601)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1382 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies) > 601 (URL Redirection to Untrusted Site ('Open Redirect'))
A web application accepts a user-controlled input that specifies a link to an external site, and uses that link in a Redirect. This simplifies phishing attacks.Open RedirectCross-site RedirectCross-domain Redirect
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1383 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Compliance/Conformance with Regulatory Requirements)
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Compliance/Conformance with Regulatory Requirements" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The ICS environment faces overlapping regulatory regimes and authorities with multiple focus areas (e.g., operational resiliency, physical safety, interoperability, and security) which can result in cyber security vulnerabilities when implemented as written due to gaps in considerations, outdatedness, or conflicting requirements." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
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.Improper Adherence to Coding Standards - (710)
1358 (Weaknesses in SEI ETF Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS) > 1363 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance)) > 1383 (ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Compliance/Conformance with Regulatory Requirements) > 710 (Improper Adherence to Coding Standards)
The product does not follow certain coding rules for development, which can lead to resultant weaknesses or increase the severity of the associated vulnerabilities.
Relationships in this view are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This view was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE-349: Acceptance of Extraneous Untrusted Data With Trusted Data
Weakness ID: 349
Abstraction: Base Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
The product, when processing trusted data, accepts any untrusted data that is also included with the trusted data, treating the untrusted data as if it were trusted.
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
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.
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 "Software Development" (CWE-699)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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
Architecture and Design
OMISSION: This weakness is caused by missing a security tactic during the architecture and design phase.
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (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
Access Control Integrity
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Modify Application Data
An attacker could package untrusted data with trusted data to bypass protection mechanisms to gain access to and possibly modify sensitive data.
use of extra data in a signature allows certificate signature forging
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.
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).
The product is deployed to unauthorized actors with debugging code still enabled or active, which can create unintended entry points or expose sensitive information.
Extended Description
A common development practice is to add "back door" code specifically designed for debugging or testing purposes that is not intended to be shipped or deployed with the product. These back door entry points create security risks because they are not considered during design or testing and fall outside of the expected operating conditions of the product.
Alternate Terms
Leftover debug code:
This term originates from Seven Pernicious Kingdoms
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
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 "Software Development" (CWE-699)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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
In web-based applications, debug code is used to test and modify web application properties, configuration information, and functions. If a debug application is left on a production server, this oversight during the "software process" allows attackers access to debug functionality.
Build and Compilation
Operation
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Class: ICS/OT (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
Confidentiality Integrity Availability Access Control Other
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Read Application Data; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Varies by Context
The severity of the exposed debug application will depend on the particular instance. At the least, it will give an attacker sensitive information about the settings and mechanics of web applications on the server. At worst, as is often the case, the debug application will allow an attacker complete control over the web application and server, as well as confidential information that either of these access.
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
Debug code can be used to bypass authentication. For example, suppose an application has a login script that receives a username and a password. Assume also that a third, optional, parameter, called "debug", is interpreted by the script as requesting a switch to debug mode, and that when this parameter is given the username and password are not checked. In such a case, it is very simple to bypass the authentication process if the special behavior of the application regarding the debug parameter is known. In a case where the form is:
Which will grant the attacker access to the site, bypassing the authentication process.
Potential Mitigations
Phases: Build and Compilation; Distribution
Remove debug code before deploying the application.
Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality
Description
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)
Primary
(where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
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.
CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
Weakness ID: 362
Abstraction: Class Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence that is operating concurrently.
Extended Description
This can have security implications when the expected synchronization is in security-critical code, such as recording whether a user is authenticated or modifying important state information that should not be influenced by an outsider.
A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and is effectively a property of a code sequence. Depending on the context, a code sequence may be in the form of a function call, a small number of instructions, a series of program invocations, etc.
A race condition violates these properties, which are closely related:
Exclusivity - the code sequence is given exclusive access to the shared resource, i.e., no other code sequence can modify properties of the shared resource before the original sequence has completed execution.
Atomicity - the code sequence is behaviorally atomic, i.e., no other thread or process can concurrently execute the same sequence of instructions (or a subset) against the same resource.
A race condition exists when an "interfering code sequence" can still access the shared resource, violating exclusivity. Programmers may assume that certain code sequences execute too quickly to be affected by an interfering code sequence; when they are not, this violates atomicity. For example, the single "x++" statement may appear atomic at the code layer, but it is actually non-atomic at the instruction layer, since it involves a read (the original value of x), followed by a computation (x+1), followed by a write (save the result to x).
The interfering code sequence could be "trusted" or "untrusted." A trusted interfering code sequence occurs within the product; it cannot be modified by the attacker, and it can only be invoked indirectly. An untrusted interfering code sequence can be authored directly by the attacker, and typically it is external to the vulnerable product.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Composite - a Compound Element that consists of two or more distinct weaknesses, in which all weaknesses must be present at the same time in order for a potential vulnerability to arise. Removing any of the weaknesses eliminates or sharply reduces the risk. One weakness, X, can be "broken down" into component weaknesses Y and Z. There can be cases in which one weakness might not be essential to a composite, but changes the nature of the composite when it becomes a vulnerability.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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 "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (CWE-1003)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ParentOf
Base - 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.
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
Architecture and Design
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 (Sometimes Prevalent)
C++ (Sometimes Prevalent)
Java (Sometimes Prevalent)
Technologies
Class: Mobile (Undetermined Prevalence)
Class: ICS/OT (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.
When a race condition makes it possible to bypass a resource cleanup routine or trigger multiple initialization routines, it may lead to resource exhaustion (CWE-400).
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Instability
When a race condition allows multiple control flows to access a resource simultaneously, it might lead the product(s) into unexpected states, possibly resulting in a crash.
Confidentiality Integrity
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories; Read Application Data
When a race condition is combined with predictable resource names and loose permissions, it may be possible for an attacker to overwrite or access confidential data (CWE-59).
Likelihood Of Exploit
Medium
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
This code could be used in an e-commerce application that supports transfers between accounts. It takes the total amount of the transfer, sends it to the new account, and deducts the amount from the original account.
} SendNewBalanceToDatabase($newbalance); NotifyUser("Transfer of $transfer_amount succeeded."); NotifyUser("New balance: $newbalance");
A race condition could occur between the calls to GetBalanceFromDatabase() and SendNewBalanceToDatabase().
Suppose the balance is initially 100.00. An attack could be constructed as follows:
(attack code)
Example Language: Other
In the following pseudocode, the attacker makes two simultaneous calls of the program, CALLER-1 and CALLER-2. Both callers are for the same user account. CALLER-1 (the attacker) is associated with PROGRAM-1 (the instance that handles CALLER-1). CALLER-2 is associated with PROGRAM-2. CALLER-1 makes a transfer request of 80.00. PROGRAM-1 calls GetBalanceFromDatabase and sets $balance to 100.00 PROGRAM-1 calculates $newbalance as 20.00, then calls SendNewBalanceToDatabase(). Due to high server load, the PROGRAM-1 call to SendNewBalanceToDatabase() encounters a delay. CALLER-2 makes a transfer request of 1.00. PROGRAM-2 calls GetBalanceFromDatabase() and sets $balance to 100.00. This happens because the previous PROGRAM-1 request was not processed yet. PROGRAM-2 determines the new balance as 99.00. After the initial delay, PROGRAM-1 commits its balance to the database, setting it to 20.00. PROGRAM-2 sends a request to update the database, setting the balance to 99.00
At this stage, the attacker should have a balance of 19.00 (due to 81.00 worth of transfers), but the balance is 99.00, as recorded in the database.
To prevent this weakness, the programmer has several options, including using a lock to prevent multiple simultaneous requests to the web application, or using a synchronization mechanism that includes all the code between GetBalanceFromDatabase() and SendNewBalanceToDatabase().
Example 2
The following function attempts to acquire a lock in order to perform operations on a shared resource.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
void f(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
pthread_mutex_lock(mutex);
/* access shared resource */
pthread_mutex_unlock(mutex);
}
However, the code does not check the value returned by pthread_mutex_lock() for errors. If pthread_mutex_lock() cannot acquire the mutex for any reason, the function may introduce a race condition into the program and result in undefined behavior.
In order to avoid data races, correctly written programs must check the result of thread synchronization functions and appropriately handle all errors, either by attempting to recover from them or reporting them to higher levels.
(good code)
Example Language: C
int f(pthread_mutex_t *mutex) {
int result;
result = pthread_mutex_lock(mutex); if (0 != result)
return result;
/* access shared resource */
return pthread_mutex_unlock(mutex);
}
Example 3
Suppose a processor's Memory Management Unit (MMU) has 5 other shadow MMUs to distribute its workload for its various cores. Each MMU has the start address and end address of "accessible" memory. Any time this accessible range changes (as per the processor's boot status), the main MMU sends an update message to all the shadow MMUs.
Suppose the interconnect fabric does not prioritize such "update" packets over other general traffic packets. This introduces a race condition. If an attacker can flood the target with enough messages so that some of those attack packets reach the target before the new access ranges gets updated, then the attacker can leverage this scenario.
Go application for cloud management creates a world-writable sudoers file that allows local attackers to inject sudo rules and escalate privileges to root by winning a race condition.
Chain: race condition (CWE-362) in anti-malware product allows deletion of files by creating a junction (CWE-1386) and using hard links during the time window in which a temporary file is created and deleted.
Chain: chipset has a race condition (CWE-362) between when an interrupt handler detects an attempt to write-enable the BIOS (in violation of the lock bit), and when the handler resets the write-enable bit back to 0, allowing attackers to issue BIOS writes during the timing window [REF-1237].
chain: time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in program allows bypass of protection mechanism that was designed to prevent symlink attacks.
chain: time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in program allows bypass of protection mechanism that was designed to prevent symlink attacks.
Chain: Signal handler contains too much functionality (CWE-828), introducing a race condition (CWE-362) that leads to a double free (CWE-415).
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Architecture and Design
In languages that support it, use synchronization primitives. Only wrap these around critical code to minimize the impact on performance.
Phase: Architecture and Design
Use thread-safe capabilities such as the data access abstraction in Spring.
Phase: Architecture and Design
Minimize the usage of shared resources in order to remove as much complexity as possible from the control flow and to reduce the likelihood of unexpected conditions occurring.
Additionally, this will minimize the amount of synchronization necessary and may even help to reduce the likelihood of a denial of service where an attacker may be able to repeatedly trigger a critical section (CWE-400).
Phase: Implementation
When using multithreading and operating on shared variables, only use thread-safe functions.
Phase: Implementation
Use atomic operations on shared variables. Be wary of innocent-looking constructs such as "x++". This may appear atomic at the code layer, but it is actually non-atomic at the instruction layer, since it involves a read, followed by a computation, followed by a write.
Phase: Implementation
Use a mutex if available, but be sure to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-412.
Phase: Implementation
Avoid double-checked locking (CWE-609) and other implementation errors that arise when trying to avoid the overhead of synchronization.
Phase: Implementation
Disable interrupts or signals over critical parts of the code, but also make sure that the code does not go into a large or infinite loop.
Phase: Implementation
Use the volatile type modifier for critical variables to avoid unexpected compiler optimization or reordering. This does not necessarily solve the synchronization problem, but it can help.
Phases: Architecture and Design; Operation
Strategy: Environment Hardening
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks [REF-76]. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.
Detection Methods
Black Box
Black box methods may be able to identify evidence of race conditions via methods such as multiple simultaneous connections, which may cause the software to become instable or crash. However, race conditions with very narrow timing windows would not be detectable.
White Box
Common idioms are detectable in white box analysis, such as time-of-check-time-of-use (TOCTOU) file operations (CWE-367), or double-checked locking (CWE-609).
Automated Dynamic Analysis
This weakness can be detected using dynamic tools and techniques that interact with the software using large test suites with many diverse inputs, such as fuzz testing (fuzzing), robustness testing, and fault injection. The software's operation may slow down, but it should not become unstable, crash, or generate incorrect results.
Race conditions may be detected with a stress-test by calling the software simultaneously from a large number of threads or processes, and look for evidence of any unexpected behavior.
Insert breakpoints or delays in between relevant code statements to artificially expand the race window so that it will be easier to detect.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
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
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).
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).
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).
Race conditions in web applications are under-studied and probably under-reported. However, in 2008 there has been growing interest in this area.
Research Gap
Much of the focus of race condition research has been in Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) variants (CWE-367), but many race conditions are related to synchronization problems that do not necessarily require a time-of-check.
Research Gap
From a classification/taxonomy perspective, the relationships between concurrency and program state need closer investigation and may be useful in organizing related issues.
Maintenance
The relationship between race conditions and synchronization problems (CWE-662) needs to be further developed. They are not necessarily two perspectives of the same core concept, since synchronization is only one technique for avoiding race conditions, and synchronization can be used for other purposes besides race condition prevention.
Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy Name
Node ID
Fit
Mapped Node Name
PLOVER
Race Conditions
The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011)
VNA03-J
Do not assume that a group of calls to independently atomic methods is atomic
A feature, API, or function does not perform according to its specification.
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
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.
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 "Software Development" (CWE-699)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "Hardware Design" (CWE-1194)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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
Architecture and Design
Implementation
Operation
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Class: ICS/OT (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
Other
Technical Impact: Quality Degradation; Varies by Context
Buffer overflow in product stems the use of a third party library function that is expected to have internal protection against overflows, but doesn't.
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.
The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.
Extended Description
Resources such as files and directories may be inadvertently exposed through mechanisms such as insecure permissions, or when a program accidentally operates on the wrong object. For example, a program may intend that private files can only be provided to a specific user. This effectively defines a control sphere that is intended to prevent attackers from accessing these private files. If the file permissions are insecure, then parties other than the user will be able to access those files.
A separate control sphere might effectively require that the user can only access the private files, but not any other files on the system. If the program does not ensure that the user is only requesting private files, then the user might be able to access other files on the system.
In either case, the end result is that a resource has been exposed to the wrong party.
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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.
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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 "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (CWE-1003)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ParentOf
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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
Architecture and Design
Implementation
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
Operation
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
Confidentiality Integrity Other
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Other
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.
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).
Use for Mapping: Discouraged (this CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities).
Rationale: CWE-668 is high-level and can be used as a catch-all when lower-level CWE IDs might be applicable. It is sometimes used for low-information vulnerability reports [REF-1287]. It is a level-1 Class (i.e., a child of a Pillar). It is not useful for trend analysis.
Comments: closely analyze the specific mistake that is allowing the resource to be exposed, and perform a CWE mapping for that mistake.
Theoretical
A "control sphere" is a set of resources and behaviors that are accessible to a single actor, or a group of actors. A product's security model will typically define multiple spheres, possibly implicitly. For example, a server might define one sphere for "administrators" who can create new user accounts with subdirectories under /home/server/, and a second sphere might cover the set of users who can create or delete files within their own subdirectories. A third sphere might be "users who are authenticated to the operating system on which the product is installed." Each sphere has different sets of actors and allowable behaviors.
CWE-15: External Control of System or Configuration Setting
Weakness ID: 15
Abstraction: Base Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
One or more system settings or configuration elements can be externally controlled by a user.
Extended Description
Allowing external control of system settings can disrupt service or cause an application to behave in unexpected, and potentially malicious 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
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.
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.
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 "Software Development" (CWE-699)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "Seven Pernicious Kingdoms" (CWE-700)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ChildOf
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.
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
Setting manipulation vulnerabilities occur when an attacker can control values that govern the behavior of the system, manage specific resources, or in some way affect the functionality of the application.
Implementation
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
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.
Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Class: ICS/OT (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
Other
Technical Impact: Varies by Context
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
The following C code accepts a number as one of its command line parameters and sets it as the host ID of the current machine.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
... sethostid(argv[1]); ...
Although a process must be privileged to successfully invoke sethostid(), unprivileged users may be able to invoke the program. The code in this example allows user input to directly control the value of a system setting. If an attacker provides a malicious value for host ID, the attacker can misidentify the affected machine on the network or cause other unintended behavior.
Example 2
The following Java code snippet reads a string from an HttpServletRequest and sets it as the active catalog for a database Connection.
In this example, an attacker could cause an error by providing a nonexistent catalog name or connect to an unauthorized portion of the database.
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Architecture and Design
Strategy: Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
Phases: Implementation; Architecture and Design
Because setting manipulation covers a diverse set of functions, any attempt at illustrating it will inevitably be incomplete. Rather than searching for a tight-knit relationship between the functions addressed in the setting manipulation category, take a step back and consider the sorts of system values that an attacker should not be allowed to control.
Phases: Implementation; Architecture and Design
In general, do not allow user-provided or otherwise untrusted data to control sensitive values. The leverage that an attacker gains by controlling these values is not always immediately obvious, but do not underestimate the creativity of the attacker.
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.
CWE-610: Externally Controlled Reference to a Resource in Another Sphere
Weakness ID: 610
Abstraction: Class Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
The product uses an externally controlled name or reference that resolves to a resource that is outside of the intended control sphere.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Composite - a Compound Element that consists of two or more distinct weaknesses, in which all weaknesses must be present at the same time in order for a potential vulnerability to arise. Removing any of the weaknesses eliminates or sharply reduces the risk. One weakness, X, can be "broken down" into component weaknesses Y and Z. There can be cases in which one weakness might not be essential to a composite, but changes the nature of the composite when it becomes a vulnerability.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (CWE-1003)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ParentOf
Composite - a Compound Element that consists of two or more distinct weaknesses, in which all weaknesses must be present at the same time in order for a potential vulnerability to arise. Removing any of the weaknesses eliminates or sharply reduces the risk. One weakness, X, can be "broken down" into component weaknesses Y and Z. There can be cases in which one weakness might not be essential to a composite, but changes the nature of the composite when it becomes a vulnerability.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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
Architecture and Design
COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.
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
Confidentiality Integrity
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Modify Application Data
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.
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).
This is a general class of weakness, but most research is focused on more specialized cases, such as path traversal (CWE-22) and symlink following (CWE-61). A symbolic link has a name; in general, it appears like any other file in the file system. However, the link includes a reference to another file, often in another directory - perhaps in another sphere of control. Many common library functions that accept filenames will "follow" a symbolic link and use the link's target instead.
Maintenance
The relationship between CWE-99 and CWE-610 needs further investigation and clarification. They might be duplicates. CWE-99 "Resource Injection," as originally defined in Seven Pernicious Kingdoms taxonomy, emphasizes the "identifier used to access a system resource" such as a file name or port number, yet it explicitly states that the "resource injection" term does not apply to "path manipulation," which effectively identifies the path at which a resource can be found and could be considered to be one aspect of a resource identifier. Also, CWE-610 effectively covers any type of resource, whether that resource is at the system layer, the application layer, or the code layer.
CWE-329: Generation of Predictable IV with CBC Mode
Weakness ID: 329
Abstraction: Variant Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
The product generates and uses a predictable initialization Vector (IV) with Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) Mode, which causes algorithms to be susceptible to dictionary attacks when they are encrypted under the same key.
Extended Description
CBC mode eliminates a weakness of Electronic Code Book (ECB) mode by allowing identical plaintext blocks to be encrypted to different ciphertext blocks. This is possible by the XOR-ing of an IV with the initial plaintext block so that every plaintext block in the chain is XOR'd with a different value before encryption. If IVs are reused, then identical plaintexts would be encrypted to identical ciphertexts. However, even if IVs are not identical but are predictable, then they still break the security of CBC mode against Chosen Plaintext Attacks (CPA).
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
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.
Base - 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.
CBC mode is a commonly used mode of operation for a
block cipher. It works by XOR-ing an IV with the initial
block of a plaintext prior to encryption and then
XOR-ing each successive block of plaintext with the
previous block of ciphertext before encryption.
C_0 = IV
C_i = E_k{M_i XOR C_{i-1}}
When used properly, CBC mode provides security against chosen plaintext attacks. Having an unpredictable IV is a crucial underpinning of this. See [REF-1171].
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
Architecture and Design
Designers might assume a non-cryptographic context for a cryptographic variable.
Implementation
Developers might dismiss the importance of an unpredictable IV and choose an easier implementation to save effort, weakening the scheme in the process.
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Class: ICS/OT (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
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data
If the IV is not properly initialized, data that is encrypted can be compromised and leak information.
Likelihood Of Exploit
Medium
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
In the following examples, CBC mode is used when encrypting data:
In both of these examples, the initialization vector (IV) is always a block of zeros. This makes the resulting cipher text much more predictable and susceptible to a dictionary attack.
encryption functionality in an authentication framework uses a fixed null IV with CBC mode, allowing attackers to decrypt traffic in applications that use this functionality
Blowfish-CBC implementation constructs an IV where each byte is calculated modulo 8 instead of modulo 256, resulting in less than 12 bits for the effective IV length, and less than 4096 possible IV values.
BEAST attack in SSL 3.0 / TLS 1.0. In CBC mode, chained initialization vectors are non-random, allowing decryption of HTTPS traffic using a chosen plaintext attack.
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Implementation
NIST recommends two methods of generating unpredictable IVs for CBC mode [REF-1172]. The first is to generate the IV randomly. The second method is to encrypt a nonce with the same key and cipher to be used to encrypt the plaintext. In this case the nonce must be unique but can be predictable, since the block cipher will act as a pseudo random permutation.
Functional Areas
Cryptography
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.
As of CWE 4.5, terminology related to randomness, entropy, and
predictability can vary widely. Within the developer and other
communities, "randomness" is used heavily. However, within
cryptography, "entropy" is distinct, typically implied as a
measurement. There are no commonly-used definitions, even within
standards documents and cryptography papers. Future versions of
CWE will attempt to define these terms and, if necessary,
distinguish between them in ways that are appropriate for
different communities but do not reduce the usability of CWE for
mapping, understanding, or other scenarios.
Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy Name
Node ID
Fit
Mapped Node Name
CLASP
Not using a random IV with CBC mode
References
[REF-62] Mark Dowd, John McDonald
and Justin Schuh. "The Art of Software Security Assessment". Chapter 2, "Initialization Vectors", Page 42. 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. 2006.
The product contains functionality that is not documented, not part of the specification, and not accessible through an interface or command sequence that is obvious to the product's users or administrators.
Extended Description
Hidden functionality can take many forms, such as intentionally malicious code, "Easter Eggs" that contain extraneous functionality such as games, developer-friendly shortcuts that reduce maintenance or support costs such as hard-coded accounts, etc. From a security perspective, even when the functionality is not intentionally malicious or damaging, it can increase the product's attack surface and expose additional weaknesses beyond what is already exposed by the intended functionality. Even if it is not easily accessible, the hidden functionality could be useful for attacks that modify the control flow of the application.
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
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.
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.
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
Architecture and Design
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.
Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Class: ICS/OT (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
Other Integrity
Technical Impact: Varies by Context; Alter Execution Logic
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Installation
Always verify the integrity of the product that is being installed.
Phase: Testing
Conduct a code coverage analysis using live testing, then closely inspect any code that is not covered.
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.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Communications" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
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).
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Communications: Frail Security in Protocols
Category ID: 1366
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Frail Security in Protocols" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Vulnerabilities arise as a result of mis-implementation or incomplete implementation of security in ICS implementations of communication protocols." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Unreliability" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Vulnerabilities arise in reaction to disruptions in the physical layer (e.g. creating electrical noise) used to carry the traffic." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures
Category ID: 1364
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Zone Boundary Failures" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Within an ICS system, for traffic that crosses through network zone boundaries, vulnerabilities arise when those boundaries were designed for safety or other purposes but are being repurposed for security." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
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.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Dependencies (& Architecture)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
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).
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems
Category ID: 1368
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "External Digital Systems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Due to the highly interconnected technologies in use, an external dependency on another digital system could cause a confidentiality, integrity, or availability incident for the protected system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Physical Systems
Category ID: 1367
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "External Physical Systems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Due to the highly interconnected technologies in use, an external dependency on another physical system could cause an availability interruption for the protected system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Gaps in Details/Data
Category ID: 1375
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Gaps in Details/Data" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Highly complex systems are often operated by personnel who have years of experience in managing that particular facility or plant. Much of their knowledge is passed along through verbal or hands-on training but may not be fully documented in written practices and procedures." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Inherent Predictability in Design
Category ID: 1377
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Inherent Predictability in Design" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The commonality of design (in ICS/SCADA architectures) for energy systems and environments opens up the possibility of scaled compromise by leveraging the inherent predictability in the design." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Maker Breaker Blindness" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Lack of awareness of deliberate attack techniques by people (vs failure modes from natural causes like weather or metal fatigue) may lead to insufficient security controls being built into ICS systems." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Security Gaps in Commissioning
Category ID: 1376
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Security Gaps in Commissioning" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "As a large system is brought online components of the system may remain vulnerable until the entire system is operating and functional and security controls are put in place. This creates a window of opportunity for an adversary during the commissioning process." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Engineering (Construction/Deployment): Trust Model Problems
Category ID: 1373
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Trust Model Problems" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Assumptions made about the user during the design or construction phase may result in vulnerabilities after the system is installed if the user operates it using a different security approach or process than what was designed or built." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Engineering (Constructions/Deployment)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
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).
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Operations (& Maintenance)" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
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).
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Compliance/Conformance with Regulatory Requirements
Category ID: 1383
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Compliance/Conformance with Regulatory Requirements" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The ICS environment faces overlapping regulatory regimes and authorities with multiple focus areas (e.g., operational resiliency, physical safety, interoperability, and security) which can result in cyber security vulnerabilities when implemented as written due to gaps in considerations, outdatedness, or conflicting requirements." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This entry might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusions SCOPE.SITUATIONS (Focus on situations in which weaknesses may appear) and/or SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Emerging Energy Technologies
Category ID: 1382
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Emerging Energy Technologies" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "With the rapid evolution of the energy system accelerated by the emergence of new technologies such as DERs, electric vehicles, advanced communications (5G+), novel and diverse challenges arise for secure and resilient operation of the system." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.SITUATIONS (Focus on situations in which weaknesses may appear).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Exploitable Standard Operational Procedures
Category ID: 1381
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Exploitable Standard Operational Procedures" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Standard ICS Operational Procedures developed for safety and operational functionality in a closed, controlled communications environment can introduce vulnerabilities in a more connected environment." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This entry might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusions SCOPE.SITUATIONS (Focus on situations in which weaknesses may appear) and/or SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Gaps in obligations and training
Category ID: 1378
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Gaps in obligations and training" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "OT ownership and responsibility for identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities are not clearly defined or communicated within an organization, leaving environments unpatched, exploitable, and with a broader attack surface." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Operations (& Maintenance): Human factors in ICS environments
Category ID: 1379
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Human factors in ICS environments" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Environmental factors in ICS including physical duress, system complexities, and isolation may result in security gaps or inadequacies in the performance of individual duties and responsibilities." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Post-analysis changes" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Changes made to a previously analyzed and approved ICS environment can introduce new security vulnerabilities (as opposed to safety)." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "ICS Supply Chain" super category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
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).
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties
Category ID: 1370
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Common Mode Frailties" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "At the component level, most ICS systems are assembled from common parts made by other companies. One or more of these common parts might contain a vulnerability that could result in a wide-spread incident." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "IT/OT Convergence/Expansion" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "The increased penetration of DER devices and smart loads make emerging ICS networks more like IT networks and thus susceptible to vulnerabilities similar to those of IT networks." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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.
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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.SITUATIONS (Focus on situations in which weaknesses may appear).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Supply Chain: OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption
Category ID: 1372
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "OT Counterfeit and Malicious Corruption" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "In ICS, when this procurement process results in a vulnerability or component damage, it can have grid impacts or cause physical harm." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category might be subject to CWE Scope Exclusion SCOPE.HUMANPROC (Human/organizational process).
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
CWE CATEGORY: ICS Supply Chain: Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features
Category ID: 1371
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the "Poorly Documented or Undocumented Features" category from the SEI ETF "Categories of Security Vulnerabilities in ICS" as published in March 2022: "Undocumented capabilities and configurations pose a risk by not having a clear understanding of what the device is specifically supposed to do and only do. Therefore possibly opening up the attack surface and vulnerabilities." Note: members of this category include "Nearest IT Neighbor" recommendations from the report, as well as suggestions by the CWE team. These relationships are likely to change in future CWE versions.
Membership
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Relationships in this category are not authoritative and subject to change. See Maintenance notes.
Maintenance
This category was created in CWE 4.7 to facilitate and illuminate discussion about weaknesses in ICS with [REF-1248] as a starting point. After the release of CWE 4.9 in October 2022, this has been under active review by members of the "Boosting CWE" subgroup of the CWE-CAPEC ICS/OT Special Interest Group (SIG). Relationships are still subject to change. In addition, there may be some issues in [REF-1248] that are outside of the current scope of CWE, which will require consultation with many CWE stakeholders to resolve.
The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.
Extended Description
Access control involves the use of several protection mechanisms such as:
Authentication (proving the identity of an actor)
Authorization (ensuring that a given actor can access a resource), and
Accountability (tracking of activities that were performed)
When any mechanism is not applied or otherwise fails, attackers can compromise the security of the product by gaining privileges, reading sensitive information, executing commands, evading detection, etc.
There are two distinct behaviors that can introduce access control weaknesses:
Specification: incorrect privileges, permissions, ownership, etc. are explicitly specified for either the user or the resource (for example, setting a password file to be world-writable, or giving administrator capabilities to a guest user). This action could be performed by the program or the administrator.
Enforcement: the mechanism contains errors that prevent it from properly enforcing the specified access control requirements (e.g., allowing the user to specify their own privileges, or allowing a syntactically-incorrect ACL to produce insecure settings). This problem occurs within the program itself, in that it does not actually enforce the intended security policy that the administrator specifies.
Alternate Terms
Authorization:
The terms "access control" and "authorization" are often used interchangeably, although many people have distinct definitions. The CWE usage of "access control" is intended as a general term for the various mechanisms that restrict which users can access which resources, and "authorization" is more narrowly defined. It is unlikely that there will be community consensus on the use of these terms.
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
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "CISQ Data Protection Measures" (CWE-1340)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ParentOf
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
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
Architecture and Design
Implementation
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
Operation
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.
Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Class: ICS/OT (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.
Access-control setting in web-based document collaboration tool is not properly implemented by the code, which prevents listing hidden directories but does not prevent direct requests to files in those directories.
Chain: Cloud computing virtualization platform does not require authentication for upload of a tar format file (CWE-306), then uses .. path traversal sequences (CWE-23) in the file to access unexpected files, as exploited in the wild per CISA KEV.
Bulletin board applies restrictions on number of images during post creation, but does not enforce this on editing.
Potential Mitigations
Phases: Architecture and Design; Operation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
Phase: Architecture and Design
Strategy: Separation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
Affected Resources
File or Directory
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.
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).
Use for Mapping: Discouraged (this CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities).
Rationale: CWE-284 is extremely high-level, a Pillar. Its name, "Improper Access Control," is often used in low-information vulnerability reports [REF-1287]. It is not useful for trend analysis.
Comments: consider using descendants of CWE-284 that are more specific to the kind of access control involved, such as those involving:
[REF-44] Michael Howard, David LeBlanc
and John Viega. "24 Deadly Sins of Software Security". "Sin 17: Failure to Protect Stored Data." Page 253. McGraw-Hill. 2010.
The product does not follow certain coding rules for development, which can lead to resultant weaknesses or increase the severity of the associated vulnerabilities.
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
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).
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
Base - 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.
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.
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
Architecture and Design
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (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
Other
Technical Impact: Other
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Implementation
Document and closely follow coding standards.
Phases: Testing; Implementation
Where possible, use automated tools to enforce the standards.
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.
The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Extended Description
Assuming a user with a given identity, authorization is the process of determining whether that user can access a given resource, based on the user's privileges and any permissions or other access-control specifications that apply to the resource.
When access control checks are not applied consistently - or not at all - users are able to access data or perform actions that they should not be allowed to perform. This can lead to a wide range of problems, including information exposures, denial of service, and arbitrary code execution.
Alternate Terms
AuthZ:
"AuthZ" is typically used as an abbreviation of "authorization" within the web application security community. It is distinct from "AuthN" (or, sometimes, "AuthC") which is an abbreviation of "authentication." The use of "Auth" as an abbreviation is discouraged, since it could be used for either authentication or authorization.
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.
Base - 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.
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.
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.
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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "CISQ Data Protection Measures" (CWE-1340)
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.
An access control list (ACL) represents who/what has permissions to a given object. Different operating systems implement (ACLs) in different ways. In UNIX, there are three types of permissions: read, write, and execute. Users are divided into three classes for file access: owner, group owner, and all other users where each class has a separate set of rights. In Windows NT, there are four basic types of permissions for files: "No access", "Read access", "Change access", and "Full control". Windows NT extends the concept of three types of users in UNIX to include a list of users and groups along with their associated permissions. A user can create an object (file) and assign specified permissions to that object.
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
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
A developer may introduce authorization weaknesses because of a lack of understanding about the underlying technologies. For example, a developer may assume that attackers cannot modify certain inputs such as headers or cookies.
Architecture and Design
Authorization weaknesses may arise when a single-user application is ported to a multi-user environment.
Operation
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Web Server (Often Prevalent)
Database Server (Often Prevalent)
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
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Read Files or Directories
An attacker could read sensitive data, either by reading the data directly from a data store that is not properly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to read the data.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Modify Files or Directories
An attacker could modify sensitive data, either by writing the data directly to a data store that is not properly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to write the data.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
An attacker could gain privileges by modifying or reading critical data directly, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality.
Likelihood Of Exploit
High
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
This function runs an arbitrary SQL query on a given database, returning the result of the query.
(bad code)
Example Language: PHP
function runEmployeeQuery($dbName, $name){
mysql_select_db($dbName,$globalDbHandle) or die("Could not open Database".$dbName); //Use a prepared statement to avoid CWE-89 $preparedStatement = $globalDbHandle->prepare('SELECT * FROM employees WHERE name = :name'); $preparedStatement->execute(array(':name' => $name)); return $preparedStatement->fetchAll();
While this code is careful to avoid SQL Injection, the function does not confirm the user sending the query is authorized to do so. An attacker may be able to obtain sensitive employee information from the database.
Example 2
The following program could be part of a bulletin board system that allows users to send private messages to each other. This program intends to authenticate the user before deciding whether a private message should be displayed. Assume that LookupMessageObject() ensures that the $id argument is numeric, constructs a filename based on that id, and reads the message details from that file. Also assume that the program stores all private messages for all users in the same directory.
my $q = new CGI; # For purposes of this example, assume that CWE-309 and
# CWE-523 do not apply. if (! AuthenticateUser($q->param('username'), $q->param('password'))) {
ExitError("invalid username or password");
}
my $id = $q->param('id'); DisplayPrivateMessage($id);
While the program properly exits if authentication fails, it does not ensure that the message is addressed to the user. As a result, an authenticated attacker could provide any arbitrary identifier and read private messages that were intended for other users.
One way to avoid this problem would be to ensure that the "to" field in the message object matches the username of the authenticated user.
Go-based continuous deployment product does not check that a user has certain privileges to update or create an app, allowing adversaries to read sensitive repository information
Chain: SNMP product does not properly parse a configuration option for which hosts are allowed to connect, allowing unauthorized IP addresses to connect.
Chain: product does not properly check the result of a reverse DNS lookup because of operator precedence (CWE-783), allowing bypass of DNS-based access restrictions.
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
Phase: Architecture and Design
Ensure that you perform access control checks related to your business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that you apply to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor.
Phase: Architecture and Design
Strategy: Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
Phase: Architecture and Design
For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page.
One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.
Phases: System Configuration; Installation
Use the access control capabilities of your operating system and server environment and define your access control lists accordingly. Use a "default deny" policy when defining these ACLs.
Detection Methods
Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis is useful for detecting commonly-used idioms for authorization. A tool may be able to analyze related configuration files, such as .htaccess in Apache web servers, or detect the usage of commonly-used authorization libraries.
Generally, automated static analysis tools have difficulty detecting custom authorization schemes. In addition, the software's design may include some functionality that is accessible to any user and does not require an authorization check; an automated technique that detects the absence of authorization may report false positives.
Effectiveness: Limited
Automated Dynamic Analysis
Automated dynamic analysis may find many or all possible interfaces that do not require authorization, but manual analysis is required to determine if the lack of authorization violates business logic
Manual Analysis
This weakness can be detected using tools and techniques that require manual (human) analysis, such as penetration testing, threat modeling, and interactive tools that allow the tester to record and modify an active session.
Specifically, manual static analysis is useful for evaluating the correctness of custom authorization mechanisms.
Effectiveness: Moderate
Note: These may be more effective than strictly automated techniques. This is especially the case with weaknesses that are related to design and business rules. However, manual efforts might not achieve desired code coverage within limited time constraints.
Manual Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Binary / Bytecode disassembler - then use manual analysis for vulnerabilities & anomalies
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Web Application Scanner
Web Services Scanner
Database Scanners
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Host Application Interface Scanner
Fuzz Tester
Framework-based Fuzzer
Forced Path Execution
Monitored Virtual Environment - run potentially malicious code in sandbox / wrapper / virtual machine, see if it does anything suspicious
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:
Cost effective for partial coverage:
Context-configured Source Code Weakness Analyzer
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Architecture or Design Review
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
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.
[REF-62] Mark Dowd, John McDonald
and Justin Schuh. "The Art of Software Security Assessment". Chapter 2, "Common Vulnerabilities of Authorization", Page 39. 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. 2006.
[REF-62] Mark Dowd, John McDonald
and Justin Schuh. "The Art of Software Security Assessment". Chapter 11, "ACL Inheritance", Page 649. 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. 2006.
The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.
Extended Description
When a certificate is invalid or malicious, it might allow an attacker to spoof a trusted entity by interfering in the communication path between the host and client. The product might connect to a malicious host while believing it is a trusted host, or the product might be deceived into accepting spoofed data that appears to originate from a trusted host.
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
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.
Base - 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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
Base - 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.
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 "Software Development" (CWE-699)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
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 "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (CWE-1003)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ChildOf
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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
A certificate is a token that associates an identity (principal) to a cryptographic key. Certificates can be used to check if a public key belongs to the assumed owner.
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
Architecture and Design
Implementation
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
Implementation
When the product uses certificate pinning, the developer might not properly validate all relevant components of the certificate before pinning the certificate. This can make it difficult or expensive to test after the pinning is complete.
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies
Class: Mobile (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 Authentication
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1
This code checks the certificate of a connected peer.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
if ((cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl)) && host)
foo=SSL_get_verify_result(ssl);
if ((X509_V_OK==foo) || X509_V_ERR_SELF_SIGNED_CERT_IN_CHAIN==foo))
// certificate looks good, host can be trusted
In this case, because the certificate is self-signed, there was no external authority that could prove the identity of the host. The program could be communicating with a different system that is spoofing the host, e.g. by poisoning the DNS cache or using an Adversary-in-the-Middle (AITM) attack to modify the traffic from server to client.
Example 2
The following OpenSSL code obtains a certificate and verifies it.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl); if (cert && (SSL_get_verify_result(ssl)==X509_V_OK)) {
// do secret things
}
Even though the "verify" step returns X509_V_OK, this step does not include checking the Common Name against the name of the host. That is, there is no guarantee that the certificate is for the desired host. The SSL connection could have been established with a malicious host that provided a valid certificate.
Example 3
The following OpenSSL code ensures that there is a certificate and allows the use of expired certificates.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
if (cert = SSL_get_peer(certificate(ssl)) {
foo=SSL_get_verify_result(ssl); if ((X509_V_OK==foo) || (X509_V_ERR_CERT_HAS_EXPIRED==foo))
//do stuff
If the call to SSL_get_verify_result() returns X509_V_ERR_CERT_HAS_EXPIRED, this means that the certificate has expired. As time goes on, there is an increasing chance for attackers to compromise the certificate.
Example 4
The following OpenSSL code ensures that there is a certificate before continuing execution.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
if (cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl)) {
// got a certificate, do secret things
Because this code does not use SSL_get_verify_results() to check the certificate, it could accept certificates that have been revoked (X509_V_ERR_CERT_REVOKED). The software could be communicating with a malicious host.
Example 5
The following OpenSSL code ensures that the host has a certificate.
(bad code)
Example Language: C
if (cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl)) {
// got certificate, host can be trusted
//foo=SSL_get_verify_result(ssl);
//if (X509_V_OK==foo) ...
}
Note that the code does not call SSL_get_verify_result(ssl), which effectively disables the validation step that checks the certificate.
Web browser uses a TLS-related function incorrectly, preventing it from verifying that a server's certificate is signed by a trusted certification authority (CA)
chain: DNS server does not correctly check return value from the OpenSSL EVP_VerifyFinal function allows bypass of validation of the certificate chain.
chain: OS package manager does not check properly check the return value, allowing bypass using a revoked certificate.
Potential Mitigations
Phases: Architecture and Design; Implementation
Certificates should be carefully managed and checked to assure that data are encrypted with the intended owner's public key.
Phase: Implementation
If certificate pinning is being used, ensure that all relevant properties of the certificate are fully validated before the certificate is pinned, including the hostname.
Detection Methods
Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode
According to SOAR, the following detection techniques may be useful:
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.
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).
[REF-243] Sascha Fahl, Marian Harbach, Thomas Muders, Matthew Smith and
Lars Baumgärtner, Bernd Freisleben. "Why Eve and Mallory Love Android: An Analysis of Android SSL (In)Security". 2012-10-16.
<http://www2.dcsec.uni-hannover.de/files/android/p50-fahl.pdf>.
[REF-244] M. Bishop. "Computer Security: Art and Science". Addison-Wesley. 2003.
Content History
Submissions
Submission Date
Submitter
Organization
2006-07-19
CWE Community
Submitted by members of the CWE community to extend early CWE versions
CWE-754: Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions
Weakness ID: 754
Abstraction: Class Structure: Simple
View customized information:
Description
The product does not check or incorrectly checks for unusual or exceptional conditions that are not expected to occur frequently during day to day operation of the product.
Extended Description
The programmer may assume that certain events or conditions will never occur or do not need to be worried about, such as low memory conditions, lack of access to resources due to restrictive permissions, or misbehaving clients or components. However, attackers may intentionally trigger these unusual conditions, thus violating the programmer's assumptions, possibly introducing instability, incorrect behavior, or a vulnerability.
Note that this entry is not exclusively about the use of exceptions and exception handling, which are mechanisms for both checking and handling unusual or unexpected conditions.
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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (CWE-1003)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
ParentOf
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
Base - 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.
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 "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature
Type
ID
Name
MemberOf
Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.
Many functions will return some value about the success of their actions. This will alert the program whether or not to handle any errors caused by that function.
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
REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
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
Class: Not Language-Specific (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 Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Unexpected State
The data which were produced as a result of a function call could be in a bad state upon return. If the return value is not checked, then this bad data may be used in operations, possibly leading to a crash or other unintended behaviors.
The programmer expects that when fgets() returns, buf will contain a null-terminated string of length 9 or less. But if an I/O error occurs, fgets() will not null-terminate buf. Furthermore, if the end of the file is reached before any characters are read, fgets() returns without writing anything to buf. In both of these situations, fgets() signals that something unusual has happened by returning NULL, but in this code, the warning will not be noticed. The lack of a null terminator in buf can result in a buffer overflow in the subsequent call to strcpy().
Example 2
The following code does not check to see if memory allocation succeeded before attempting to use the pointer returned by malloc().
The traditional defense of this coding error is: "If my program runs out of memory, it will fail. It doesn't matter whether I handle the error or simply allow the program to die with a segmentation fault when it tries to dereference the null pointer." This argument ignores three important considerations:
Depending upon the type and size of the application, it may be possible to free memory that is being used elsewhere so that execution can continue.
It is impossible for the program to perform a graceful exit if required. If the program is performing an atomic operation, it can leave the system in an inconsistent state.
The programmer has lost the opportunity to record diagnostic information. Did the call to malloc() fail because req_size was too large or because there were too many requests being handled at the same time? Or was it caused by a memory leak that has built up over time? Without handling the error, there is no way to know.
Example 3
The following examples read a file into a byte array.
(bad code)
Example Language: C#
char[] byteArray = new char[1024]; for (IEnumerator i=users.GetEnumerator(); i.MoveNext() ;i.Current()) {
String userName = (String) i.Current(); String pFileName = PFILE_ROOT + "/" + userName; StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(pFileName); sr.Read(byteArray,0,1024);//the file is always 1k bytes sr.Close(); processPFile(userName, byteArray);
}
(bad code)
Example Language: Java
FileInputStream fis; byte[] byteArray = new byte[1024]; for (Iterator i=users.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {