Variant weakness
Draft
CWE-321: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key
The product uses a hard-coded, unchangeable cryptographic key.
264
Recorded CVEs
With this primary weakness
2
KEVs
In the CISA KEV catalog
High
Likelihood of exploit
Per MITRE
Variant
Abstraction
MITRE classification
Overview
CWE-321 (Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key) is a variant-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.
Real-world CVEs
264 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-321 (Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key), including 2 in CISA's KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities) catalog. KEVs are shown first. 43 new CWE-321 CVEs have been recorded so far in 2026 (87 in 2025).