Base weakness
Incomplete
CWE-1071: Empty Code Block
The source code contains a block that does not contain any code, i.e., the block is empty.
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The source code contains a block that does not contain any code, i.e., the block is empty.
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Empty code blocks can occur in the bodies of conditionals, function or method definitions, exception handlers, etc. While an empty code block might be intentional, it might also indicate incomplete implementation, accidental code deletion, unexpected macro expansion, etc. For some programming languages and constructs, an empty block might be allowed by the syntax, but the lack of any behavior within the block might violate a convention or API in such a way that it is an error.
What can happen when CWE-1071 is exploited.
Reduce Reliability
Affects: Other
Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.
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.)
Effectiveness: High
Illustrative examples from MITRE showing how the weakness appears in code.
In the following Java example, the code catches an ArithmeticException.
Vulnerable example
public class Main {Safe example
public class Main {The following code attempts to synchronize on an object, but does not execute anything in the synchronized block. This does not actually accomplish anything and may be a sign that a programmer is wrestling with synchronization but has not yet achieved the result they intend.
Vulnerable example
synchronized(this) { }Safe example
public void setID(int ID){Instead, in a correct usage, the synchronized statement should contain procedures that access or modify data that is exposed to multiple threads. For example, consider a scenario in which several threads are accessing student records at the same time. The method which sets the student ID to a new value will need to make sure that nobody else is accessing this data at the same time and will require synchronization.
Common questions about CWE-1071.
The source code contains a block that does not contain any code, i.e., the block is empty.
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.)
Exploiting CWE-1071 can lead to: Reduce Reliability.
Weakness data is sourced from the MITRE CWE catalog (v4.20). CVE associations are aggregated and kept current by RadicalNotion.AI.
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