CWE-1061: Insufficient Encapsulation
The product does not sufficiently hide the internal representation and implementation details of data or methods, which might allow external components or modules to modify data unexpectedly, invoke unexpected functionality, or introduce dependencies that the programmer did not intend.
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Overview
CWE-1061 (Insufficient Encapsulation) is a class-level software weakness catalogued by MITRE in the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE). It describes a recurring type of mistake that can lead to exploitable security vulnerabilities.
Common consequences
What can happen when CWE-1061 is exploited.
Varies by Context, Bypass Protection Mechanism
Affects: Access Control
An attacker can access data or methods that were not intended to be accessible.
Reduce Maintainability, Increase Analytical Complexity
Affects: Other
This issue makes it more difficult to maintain the product, which indirectly affects security by making it more difficult or time-consuming to find and/or fix vulnerabilities. It also might make it easier to introduce vulnerabilities.
How it happens
When it is introduced
Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.
How to detect it
Automated Static Analysis
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.)