CWE-1099: Inconsistent Naming Conventions for Identifiers
The product's code, documentation, or other artifacts do not consistently use the same naming conventions for variables, callables, groups of related callables, I/O capabilities, data types, file names, or similar types of elements.
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Overview
CWE-1099 (Inconsistent Naming Conventions for Identifiers) is a base-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-1099 is exploited.
Reduce Maintainability, Increase Analytical Complexity
Affects: Other
This issue makes it more difficult to understand and/or maintain the product due to inconsistencies, 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.)