COMMON WEAKNESS ENUMERATIONDraft

CWE-435

Improper Interaction Between Multiple Correctly-Behaving Entities

An interaction error occurs when two entities have correct behavior when running independently of each other, but when they are integrated as components in a larger system or process, they introduce incorrect behaviors that may cause resultant weaknesses.

Abstraction

Pillar

Structure

Simple

Likelihood of Exploit

Medium

Understand the problem

What is the problem?

An interaction error occurs when two entities have correct behavior when running independently of each other, but when they are integrated as components in a larger system or process, they introduce incorrect behaviors that may cause resultant weaknesses.

Extended description

When a system or process combines multiple independent components, this often produces new, emergent behaviors at the system level. However, if the interactions between these components are not fully accounted for, some of the emergent behaviors can be incorrect or even insecure.

Terminology

Alternate terms and usages

Interaction Error

Emergent Fault

Root cause

How and when does the problem arise?

Lifecycle phase

Architecture and Design

Lifecycle phase

Implementation

Lifecycle phase

Operation

Risk

What does successful exploitation lead to?

Unexpected StateVaries by Context

Affected security scopes: Integrity

Defence

How is it prevented and fixed?

  • Follow secure coding guidelines for input handling and boundary checking.
  • Enforce strict security reviews and automated static analysis (SAST) checks.