CWE-786
Access of Memory Location Before Start of Buffer
Incomplete
2009-10-29
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2025-04-03
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Name: Access of Memory Location Before Start of Buffer
The product reads or writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer.
CWE Description
This typically occurs when a pointer or its index is decremented to a position before the buffer, when pointer arithmetic results in a position before the beginning of the valid memory location, or when a negative index is used.
General Informations
Applicable Platforms
Language
Name: C (Often)Name: C++ (Often)
Common Consequences
| Scope | Impact | Likelihood |
|---|---|---|
| Confidentiality | Read Memory Note: For an out-of-bounds read, the attacker may have access to sensitive information. If the sensitive information contains system details, such as the current buffer's position in memory, this knowledge can be used to craft further attacks, possibly with more severe consequences. | |
| Integrity Availability | Modify Memory, DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart Note: Out of bounds memory access will very likely result in the corruption of relevant memory, and perhaps instructions, possibly leading to a crash. | |
| Integrity | Modify Memory, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands Note: If the corrupted memory can be effectively controlled, it may be possible to execute arbitrary code. If the corrupted memory is data rather than instructions, the system will continue to function with improper changes, possibly in violation of an implicit or explicit policy. |
Observed Examples
| References | Description |
|---|---|
CVE-2002-2227 | Unchecked length of SSLv2 challenge value leads to buffer underflow. |
CVE-2007-4580 | Buffer underflow from a small size value with a large buffer (length parameter inconsistency, CWE-130) |
CVE-2007-1584 | Buffer underflow from an all-whitespace string, which causes a counter to be decremented before the buffer while looking for a non-whitespace character. |
CVE-2007-0886 | Buffer underflow resultant from encoded data that triggers an integer overflow. |
CVE-2006-6171 | Product sets an incorrect buffer size limit, leading to "off-by-two" buffer underflow. |
CVE-2006-4024 | Negative value is used in a memcpy() operation, leading to buffer underflow. |
CVE-2004-2620 | Buffer underflow due to mishandled special characters |
Detection Methods
Fuzzing
Fuzz testing (fuzzing) is a powerful technique for generating large numbers of diverse inputs - either randomly or algorithmically - and dynamically invoking the code with those inputs. Even with random inputs, it is often capable of generating unexpected results such as crashes, memory corruption, or resource consumption. Fuzzing effectively produces repeatable test cases that clearly indicate bugs, which helps developers to diagnose the issues.Effectiveness : High
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Justification : The CWE entry might be misused when lower-level CWE entries might be available. It also overlaps existing CWE entries and might be deprecated in the future.Comment : If the "Access" operation is known to be a read or a write, then investigate children of entries such as CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write and CWE-125: Out-of-bounds Read.
Submission
| Name | Organization | Date | Date release | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | 1.6 |
Modifications
| Name | Organization | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Observed_Examples, Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Taxonomy_Mappings | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Description | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Detection_Factors, Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Mapping_Notes | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Demonstrative_Examples | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Applicable_Platforms |
