COMMON WEAKNESS ENUMERATIONIncomplete

CWE-749

Exposed Dangerous Method or Function

The product provides an Applications Programming Interface (API) or similar interface for interaction with external actors, but the interface includes a dangerous method or function that is not properly restricted.

Abstraction

Base

Structure

Simple

Likelihood of Exploit

Low

Understand the problem

What is the problem?

The product provides an Applications Programming Interface (API) or similar interface for interaction with external actors, but the interface includes a dangerous method or function that is not properly restricted.

Extended description

This weakness can lead to a wide variety of resultant weaknesses, depending on the behavior of the exposed method. It can apply to any number of technologies and approaches, such as ActiveX controls, Java functions, IOCTLs, and so on. The exposure can occur in a few different ways: - The function/method was never intended to be exposed to outside actors. - The function/method was only intended to be accessible to a limited set of actors, such as Internet-based access from a single web site.

Root cause

How and when does the problem arise?

Lifecycle phase

Architecture and Design

Lifecycle phase

Implementation

Risk

What does successful exploitation lead to?

Gain Privileges or Assume IdentityRead Application DataModify Application DataExecute Unauthorized Code or CommandsOther

Affected security scopes: Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control, Other

Exposing critical functionality essentially provides an attacker with the privilege level of the exposed functionality. This could result in the modification or exposure of sensitive data or possibly even execution of arbitrary code.

Defence

How is it prevented and fixed?

Architecture and Design

Architecture and design approach

Detail
If you must expose a method, make sure to perform input validation on all arguments, limit access to authorized parties, and protect against all possible vulnerabilities.

Architecture and Design · Implementation

Attack Surface Reduction

Detail
Identify all exposed functionality. Explicitly list all functionality that must be exposed to some user or set of users. Identify which functionality may be: - accessible to all users - restricted to a small set of privileged users - prevented from being directly accessible at all Ensure that the implemented code follows these expectations. This includes setting the appropriate access modifiers where applicable (public, private, protected, etc.) or not marking ActiveX controls safe-for-scripting.

Verification

How is it detected?

Automated Static Analysis

High
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)
CWE-749: Common Weakness Enumeration Entry CWE-749 · DayBreach Sözlük · DayBreach