CWE-1105: Insufficient Encapsulation of Machine-Dependent Functionality
The product or code uses machine-dependent functionality, but it does not sufficiently encapsulate or isolate this functionality from the rest of the code.
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Overview
CWE-1105 (Insufficient Encapsulation of Machine-Dependent Functionality) 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-1105 is exploited.
Reduce Maintainability
Affects: Other
This issue makes it more difficult to port or 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.)
Code examples
Illustrative examples from MITRE showing how the weakness appears in code.
In this example function, the memory address of variable b is derived by adding 1 to the address of variable a. This derived address is then used to assign the value 0 to b.
Vulnerable example
void example() {Here, b may not be one byte past a. It may be one byte in front of a. Or, they may have three bytes between them because they are aligned on 32-bit boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CWE-1105.
- What is CWE-1105?
- The product or code uses machine-dependent functionality, but it does not sufficiently encapsulate or isolate this functionality from the rest of the code.
- How is CWE-1105 detected?
- 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.)
- What are the consequences of CWE-1105?
- Exploiting CWE-1105 can lead to: Reduce Maintainability.
References
- MITRE CWE definition (CWE-1105) (opens in a new tab)
- CWE-1105 vulnerabilities on NVD (opens in a new tab)
- Learn: What is a CWE?
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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