The product uses or accesses a resource that has not been initialized.

When a resource has not been properly initialized, the product may behave unexpectedly. This may lead to a crash or invalid memory access, but the consequences vary depending on the type of resource and how it is used within the product.

Modes Of Introduction

Implementation

Applicable Platforms

Language

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)

Common Consequences

Observed Examples

Potential Mitigations

Phases : Implementation
Explicitly initialize the resource before use. If this is performed through an API function or standard procedure, follow all required steps.
Phases : Implementation
Pay close attention to complex conditionals that affect initialization, since some branches might not perform the initialization.
Phases : Implementation
Avoid race conditions (CWE-362) during initialization routines.
Phases : Build and Compilation
Run or compile the product with settings that generate warnings about uninitialized variables or data.

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Rationale : 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.
Comments : 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-436

Exploiting Uninitialized Data
mercy.
http://www.felinemenace.org/~mercy/papers/UBehavior/UBehavior.zip

Submission

Modifications