CWE-1292: Incorrect Conversion of Security Identifiers

What is Incorrect Conversion of Security Identifiers?

• Overview: Incorrect Conversion of Security Identifiers occurs when a system's mechanism for converting bus-transaction signals into security identifiers is flawed, leading to potential unauthorized access by untrusted agents.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by manipulating the conversion process to gain unauthorized access to protected assets.
• Common attack patterns include spoofing trusted identities or intercepting and modifying transactions during the conversion process.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences of successful exploitation include unauthorized access to sensitive data or control over system operations.
• Potential cascading effects include privilege escalation or further penetration into secure system areas.
• Business impact can involve data breaches, loss of intellectual property, and reputational damage.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include rigorous validation and testing of conversion logic to ensure correct mapping of signals to security identifiers.
• Security best practices involve implementing robust authentication and authorization mechanisms, and employing strict access controls.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using established security libraries for protocol conversion and employing static code analysis tools to detect potential vulnerabilities.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Bus/Interface Hardware, Not Technology-Specific

Vulnerable Code Example

function convertSecurityIdentifier(signal) {
    // Vulnerable conversion using a naive numeric operation
    // This can lead to collisions and unauthorized access
    let securityId = signal % 10;
    return securityId;
}

// Example usage
let signal = 42;
let securityId = convertSecurityIdentifier(signal);
console.log(`Security ID: \${securityId}`);

Explanation

In this vulnerable code example, the conversion of a security signal to a security identifier is done using a simple modulus operation (signal % 10). This approach can easily lead to collisions, where different input signals produce the same security identifier. Such collisions can be exploited to gain unauthorized access, as multiple signals map to the same identifier.

How to fix Incorrect Conversion of Security Identifiers?

The vulnerability arises from using basic numeric operations for conversion, which can result in duplicate security identifiers for different signals. This can be exploited to gain unauthorized access.

To secure the conversion, use a cryptographic hashing function like SHA-256 to ensure that each signal is mapped to a unique security identifier. This reduces the risk of collisions and enhances security.

Fixed Code Example

const crypto = require('crypto');

function convertSecurityIdentifier(signal) {
    // Secure conversion using SHA-256 hash function
    // This approach provides a unique and collision-resistant security identifier
    let securityId = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(signal.toString()).digest('hex');
    return securityId;
}

// Example usage
let signal = 42;
let securityId = convertSecurityIdentifier(signal);
console.log(`Security ID: \${securityId}`);

Explanation

In the fixed code example, we replace the naive numeric operation with a cryptographic hash function (SHA-256) to convert the signal into a security identifier. This approach ensures that each signal is mapped to a unique and collision-resistant identifier. Using a cryptographic hash function mitigates the risk of unauthorized access due to collisions, as it is computationally infeasible for different signals to produce the same hash value.