CWE-266 Detail

CWE-266

Incorrect Privilege Assignment
Draft
2006-07-19
00h00 +00:00
2023-06-29
00h00 +00:00
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Name: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

General Informations

Modes Of Introduction

Implementation : REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.

Applicable Platforms

Language

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)

Common Consequences

Scope Impact Likelihood
Access ControlGain Privileges or Assume Identity

Note: A user can access restricted functionality and/or sensitive information that may include administrative functionality and user accounts.

Observed Examples

References Description

CVE-1999-1193

untrusted user placed in unix "wheel" group

CVE-2005-2741

Product allows users to grant themselves certain rights that can be used to escalate privileges.

CVE-2005-2496

Product uses group ID of a user instead of the group, causing it to run with different privileges. This is resultant from some other unknown issue.

CVE-2004-0274

Product mistakenly assigns a particular status to an entity, leading to increased privileges.

Potential Mitigations

Phases : Architecture and Design // Operation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
Phases : Architecture and Design // Operation
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks [REF-76]. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Justification : This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Comment : Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

References

REF-76

Least Privilege
Sean Barnum, Michael Gegick.
https://web.archive.org/web/20211209014121/https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/bsi/articles/knowledge/principles/least-privilege

Submission

Name Organization Date Date release Version
PLOVER 2006-07-19 +00:00 2006-07-19 +00:00 Draft 3

Modifications

Name Organization Date Comment
Eric Dalci Cigital 2008-07-01 +00:00 updated Time_of_Introduction
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-09-08 +00:00 updated Description, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings, Weakness_Ordinalities
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-03-10 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-12-28 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-06-21 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-01 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-05-11 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-10-30 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations, References
CWE Content Team MITRE 2014-02-18 +00:00 updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples
CWE Content Team MITRE 2017-11-08 +00:00 updated Causal_Nature, Modes_of_Introduction, References, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2019-01-03 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-02-24 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2021-03-15 +00:00 updated Demonstrative_Examples
CWE Content Team MITRE 2021-10-28 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2022-10-13 +00:00 updated References
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-04-27 +00:00 updated References, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-06-29 +00:00 updated Mapping_Notes