CWE-1419: Incorrect Initialization of Resource
The product attempts to initialize a resource but does not correctly do so, which might leave the resource in an unexpected, incorrect, or insecure state when it is accessed.
Last updated
Overview
This can have security implications when the associated resource is expected to have certain properties or values. Examples include a variable that determines whether a user has been authenticated or not, or a register or fuse value that determines the security state of the product. For software, this weakness can frequently occur when implicit initialization is used, meaning the resource is not explicitly set to a specific value. For example, in C, memory is not necessarily cleared when it is allocated on the stack, and many scripting languages use a default empty, null value, or zero value when a variable is not explicitly initialized. For hardware, this weakness frequently appears with reset values and fuses. After a product reset, hardware may initialize registers incorrectly. During different phases of a product lifecycle, fuses may be set to incorrect values. Even if fuses are set to correct values, the lines to the fuse could be broken or there might be hardware on the fuse line that alters the fuse value to be incorrect.
Real-world CVEs
9 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-1419 (Incorrect Initialization of Resource). The highest-severity and most recent are shown first. 3 new CWE-1419 CVEs have been recorded so far in 2026 (3 in 2025).
- CVE-2026-21913
Junos OS: EX4000: A high volume of traffic destined to the device leads to a crash and restart
High · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 30th2026-01-15 - CVE-2025-53800
Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
High · CVSS 7.8 · EPSS 37th2025-09-09 - CVE-2026-0109High · CVSS 7.5 · EPSS 21th2026-03-10
- CVE-2026-33773
Junos OS: EX Series, QFX Series: If the same egress filter is configured on both an IRB and a physical interface one of those is not applied
Medium · CVSS 6.9 · EPSS 10th2026-04-09 - CVE-2025-24495Medium · CVSS 6.8 · EPSS 7th2025-05-13
- CVE-2023-5078Medium · CVSS 6.7 · EPSS 12th2023-11-08
- CVE-2024-0103Medium · CVSS 6.5 · EPSS 20th2024-06-13
- CVE-2023-45085Low · CVSS 3.3 · EPSS 12th2023-12-05
- CVE-2024-57375Low · CVSS 2.4 · EPSS 9th2025-04-25
Common consequences
What can happen when CWE-1419 is exploited.
Read Memory, Read Application Data, Unexpected State
Affects: Confidentiality
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Affects: Authorization, Integrity
Varies by Context
Affects: Other
The technical impact can vary widely based on how the resource is used in the product, and whether its contents affect security decisions.
How it happens
When it is introduced
Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.
How to prevent it
Practical mitigations for CWE-1419, grouped by where in the lifecycle they apply.
Choose the safest-possible initialization for security-related resources.
Ensure that each resource (whether variable, memory buffer, register, etc.) is fully initialized.
Pay close attention to complex conditionals or reset sources that affect initialization, since some paths might not perform the initialization.
Ensure that the design and architecture clearly identify what the initialization should be, and that the initialization does not have security implications.
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.
Consider example design module system verilog code shown below. The register_example module is an example parameterized module that defines two parameters, REGISTER_WIDTH and REGISTER_DEFAULT. Register_example module defines a Secure_mode setting, which when set makes the register content read-only and not modifiable by software writes. register_top module instantiates two registers, Insecure_Device_ID_1 and Insecure_Device_ID_2. Generally, registers containing device identifier values are required to be read only to prevent any possibility of software modifying these values.
This code attempts to login a user using credentials from a POST request:
Safe example
...
$user = $_POST['user'];The following example code is excerpted from the Access Control module, acct_wrapper, in the Hack@DAC'21 buggy OpenPiton System-on-Chip (SoC). Within this module, a set of memory-mapped I/O registers, referred to as acct_mem, each 32-bit wide, is utilized to store access control permissions for peripherals [REF-1437]. Access control registers are typically used to define and enforce permissions and access rights for various system resources.
Vulnerable example
always @(posedge clk_i)Safe example
always @(posedge clk_i)Illustrative examples
Real CVEs that MITRE cites as examples of this weakness.
- CVE-2020-27211 — Chain: microcontroller system-on-chip uses a register value stored in flash to set product protection state on the memory bus and does not contain protection against fault injection (CWE-1319) which leads to an incorrect initialization of the memory bus (CWE-1419) causing the product to be in an unprotected state.
- CVE-2023-25815 — chain: a change in an underlying package causes the gettext function to use implicit initialization with a hard-coded path (CWE-1419) under the user-writable C:\ drive, introducing an untrusted search path element (CWE-427) that enables spoofing of messages.
- CVE-2022-43468 — WordPress module sets internal variables based on external inputs, allowing false reporting of the number of views
- CVE-2022-36349 — insecure default variable initialization in BIOS firmware for a hardware board allows DoS
- CVE-2015-7763 — distributed filesystem only initializes part of the variable-length padding for a packet, allowing attackers to read sensitive information from previously-sent packets in the same memory location
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CWE-1419.
- What is CWE-1419?
- The product attempts to initialize a resource but does not correctly do so, which might leave the resource in an unexpected, incorrect, or insecure state when it is accessed.
- What CVEs are caused by CWE-1419?
- 9 recorded CVEs are attributed to CWE-1419, including CVE-2026-21913, CVE-2025-53800, CVE-2026-0109.
- How do you prevent CWE-1419?
- Choose the safest-possible initialization for security-related resources.
- How is CWE-1419 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-1419?
- Exploiting CWE-1419 can lead to: Read Memory, Read Application Data, Unexpected State, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Varies by Context.
- Is CWE-1419 actively exploited?
- 9 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-1419; none are currently in CISA's KEV catalog of actively exploited flaws.
References
- MITRE CWE definition (CWE-1419) (opens in a new tab)
- CWE-1419 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.
Stay ahead of CWE-1419
Get alerted the moment a new CWE-1419 vulnerability affects your stack, with AI-written analysis, severity context, and remediation guidance.