Variant weakness

Incomplete

CWE-588: Attempt to Access Child of a Non-structure Pointer

Casting a non-structure type to a structure type and accessing a field can lead to memory access errors or data corruption.

Last updated May 1, 2026

3

Recorded CVEs

With this primary weakness

0

KEVs

In the CISA KEV catalog

Not rated

Likelihood of exploit

Per MITRE

Variant

Abstraction

MITRE classification

Overview

CWE-588 (Attempt to Access Child of a Non-structure Pointer) 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

3 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-588 (Attempt to Access Child of a Non-structure Pointer). The highest-severity and most recent are shown first. 1 new CWE-588 CVE has been recorded so far in 2026.

Common consequences

What can happen when CWE-588 is exploited.

Modify Memory

Affects: Integrity

Adjacent variables in memory may be corrupted by assignments performed on fields after the cast.

DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

Affects: Availability

Execution may end due to a memory access error.

How it happens

When it is introduced

Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.

Implementation

Applies to

Languages

C

C++

How to prevent it

Practical mitigations for CWE-588, grouped by where in the lifecycle they apply.

Requirements

The choice could be made to use a language that is not susceptible to these issues.

Implementation

Review of type casting operations can identify locations where incompatible types are cast.

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.

The following example demonstrates the weakness.

Vulnerable example

c

struct foo

Illustrative examples

Real CVEs that MITRE cites as examples of this weakness.

CVE-2021-3510 — JSON decoder accesses a C union using an invalid offset to an object

Terminology & mappings

Mapped taxonomies

Software Fault Patterns: Faulty Pointer Use (SFP7)

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about CWE-588.

What is CWE-588?

Casting a non-structure type to a structure type and accessing a field can lead to memory access errors or data corruption.

What CVEs are caused by CWE-588?

3 recorded CVEs are attributed to CWE-588, including CVE-2026-21692, CVE-2021-3510, CVE-2021-3319.

How do you prevent CWE-588?

The choice could be made to use a language that is not susceptible to these issues.

How is CWE-588 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-588?

Exploiting CWE-588 can lead to: Modify Memory, DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart.

Is CWE-588 actively exploited?

3 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-588; none are currently in CISA's KEV catalog of actively exploited flaws.

References

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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