CWE-1126: Declaration of Variable with Unnecessarily Wide Scope
Learn about CWE-1126 (Declaration of Variable with Unnecessarily Wide Scope), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Declaration of Variable with Unnecessarily Wide Scope?
• Overview: Declaration of Variable with Unnecessarily Wide Scope refers to a coding practice where a variable is declared with a broader scope than required, meaning the variable is accessible in parts of the code where it isn't needed, which can lead to confusion and maintenance challenges.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit this by introducing errors or malicious code that manipulates the widely scoped variable.
- Common attack patterns include leveraging the variable's scope to access or alter data outside the intended context, potentially leading to security vulnerabilities like unauthorized data access.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences of successful exploitation include unauthorized access or manipulation of data, potentially leading to data breaches.
- Potential cascading effects involve increased difficulty in identifying and fixing security issues due to the complex scope of variables.
- Business impact can include loss of data integrity, customer trust, and potential regulatory fines due to data protection violations.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes involve declaring variables with the narrowest scope necessary for their use, such as within the smallest enclosing block where they are needed.
- Security best practices include regular code reviews to identify and refactor variables with unnecessarily wide scopes.
- Recommended tools and frameworks involve using static code analysis tools that can detect and suggest fixes for issues related to variable scope.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not specified