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CWE-667 Detail

CWE-667

Improper Locking
Draft
2008-04-11 00:00 +00:00
2023-06-29 00:00 +00:00
CWE Mitre.org

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Improper Locking

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.

Extended Description

Locking is a type of synchronization behavior that ensures that multiple independently-operating processes or threads do not interfere with each other when accessing the same resource. All processes/threads are expected to follow the same steps for locking. If these steps are not followed precisely - or if no locking is done at all - then another process/thread could modify the shared resource in a way that is not visible or predictable to the original process. This can lead to data or memory corruption, denial of service, etc.

Informations

Modes Of Introduction

Architecture and Design
Implementation

Common Consequences

Scope Impact Likelihood
AvailabilityDoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)

Note: Inconsistent locking discipline can lead to deadlock.

Observed Examples

Reference Description
CVE-2021-1782Chain: improper locking (CWE-667) leads to race condition (CWE-362), as exploited in the wild per CISA KEV.
CVE-2009-0935Attacker provides invalid address to a memory-reading function, causing a mutex to be unlocked twice
CVE-2010-4210function in OS kernel unlocks a mutex that was not previously locked, causing a panic or overwrite of arbitrary memory.
CVE-2008-4302Chain: OS kernel does not properly handle a failure of a function call (CWE-755), leading to an unlock of a resource that was not locked (CWE-832), with resultant crash.
CVE-2009-1243OS kernel performs an unlock in some incorrect circumstances, leading to panic.
CVE-2009-2857OS deadlock
CVE-2009-1961OS deadlock involving 3 separate functions
CVE-2009-2699deadlock in library
CVE-2009-4272deadlock triggered by packets that force collisions in a routing table
CVE-2002-1850read/write deadlock between web server and script
CVE-2004-0174web server deadlock involving multiple listening connections
CVE-2009-1388multiple simultaneous calls to the same function trigger deadlock.
CVE-2006-5158chain: other weakness leads to NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) or deadlock (CWE-833).
CVE-2006-4342deadlock when an operation is performed on a resource while it is being removed.
CVE-2006-2374Deadlock in device driver triggered by using file handle of a related device.
CVE-2006-2275Deadlock when large number of small messages cannot be processed quickly enough.
CVE-2005-3847OS kernel has deadlock triggered by a signal during a core dump.
CVE-2005-3106Race condition leads to deadlock.
CVE-2005-2456Chain: array index error (CWE-129) leads to deadlock (CWE-833)
CVE-2001-0682Program can not execute when attacker obtains a mutex.
CVE-2002-1914Program can not execute when attacker obtains a lock on a critical output file.
CVE-2002-1915Program can not execute when attacker obtains a lock on a critical output file.
CVE-2002-0051Critical file can be opened with exclusive read access by user, preventing application of security policy. Possibly related to improper permissions, large-window race condition.
CVE-2000-0338Chain: predictable file names used for locking, allowing attacker to create the lock beforehand. Resultant from permissions and randomness.
CVE-2000-1198Chain: Lock files with predictable names. Resultant from randomness.
CVE-2002-1869Product does not check if it can write to a log file, allowing attackers to avoid logging by accessing the file using an exclusive lock. Overlaps unchecked error condition. This is not quite CWE-412, but close.

Potential Mitigations

Phases : Implementation
Use industry standard APIs to implement locking mechanism.

Detection Methods

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.)
Effectiveness : High

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Rationale : This CWE entry is a Class and might have Base-level children that would be more appropriate
Comments : Examine children of this entry to see if there is a better fit

Related Attack Patterns

CAPEC-ID Attack Pattern Name
CAPEC-25 Forced Deadlock
The adversary triggers and exploits a deadlock condition in the target software to cause a denial of service. A deadlock can occur when two or more competing actions are waiting for each other to finish, and thus neither ever does. Deadlock conditions can be difficult to detect.
CAPEC-26 Leveraging Race Conditions
The adversary targets a race condition occurring when multiple processes access and manipulate the same resource concurrently, and the outcome of the execution depends on the particular order in which the access takes place. The adversary can leverage a race condition by "running the race", modifying the resource and modifying the normal execution flow. For instance, a race condition can occur while accessing a file: the adversary can trick the system by replacing the original file with their version and cause the system to read the malicious file.
CAPEC-27 Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links
This attack leverages the use of symbolic links (Symlinks) in order to write to sensitive files. An attacker can create a Symlink link to a target file not otherwise accessible to them. When the privileged program tries to create a temporary file with the same name as the Symlink link, it will actually write to the target file pointed to by the attackers' Symlink link. If the attacker can insert malicious content in the temporary file they will be writing to the sensitive file by using the Symlink. The race occurs because the system checks if the temporary file exists, then creates the file. The attacker would typically create the Symlink during the interval between the check and the creation of the temporary file.

Notes

Deeper research is necessary for synchronization and related mechanisms, including locks, mutexes, semaphores, and other mechanisms. Multiple entries are dependent on this research, which includes relationships to concurrency, race conditions, reentrant functions, etc. CWE-662 and its children - including CWE-667, CWE-820, CWE-821, and others - may need to be modified significantly, along with their relationships.

References

REF-962

Automated Source Code Security Measure (ASCSM)
Object Management Group (OMG).
http://www.omg.org/spec/ASCSM/1.0/

Submission

Name Organization Date Date Release Version
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-04-11 +00:00 2008-04-11 +00:00 Draft 9

Modifications

Name Organization Date Comment
Sean Eidemiller Cigital 2008-07-01 +00:00 added/updated demonstrative examples
Eric Dalci Cigital 2008-07-01 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-09-08 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-11-24 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-03-10 +00:00 updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-05-27 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-07-27 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences
CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-09-27 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-12-13 +00:00 updated Description, Name, Relationships
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 Demonstrative_Examples, Observed_Examples, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-10-30 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2014-07-30 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2017-05-03 +00:00 updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CWE Content Team MITRE 2017-11-08 +00:00 updated Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2019-01-03 +00:00 updated References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2019-09-19 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2019-09-23 +00:00 updated Description, Maintenance_Notes, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-02-24 +00:00 updated Relationships, Type
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-08-20 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-12-10 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2021-03-15 +00:00 updated Demonstrative_Examples
CWE Content Team MITRE 2022-06-28 +00:00 updated Observed_Examples
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-01-31 +00:00 updated Description
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-04-27 +00:00 updated Detection_Factors, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-06-29 +00:00 updated Mapping_Notes

More information
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