CWE-1126: Declaration of Variable with Unnecessarily Wide Scope

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.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not specified

Affected Technologies: Not specified