CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Learn about CWE-284 (Improper Access Control), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Improper Access Control?
• Overview: Improper Access Control (CWE-284) occurs when a system does not adequately limit access to resources, allowing unauthorized users to interact with them. This can happen due to weak authentication, incorrect authorization, or poor accountability measures, leading to unauthorized access or actions.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by bypassing authentication mechanisms, escalating privileges, or accessing resources they are not authorized to view or modify.
- Common attack patterns include exploiting default credentials, manipulating URL parameters, or exploiting misconfigured permissions.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences of successful exploitation include unauthorized data access, data modification, or disruption of service.
- Potential cascading effects include compromised systems, unauthorized transactions, or spreading to other systems within a network.
- Business impact can involve data breaches, financial loss, reputational damage, and non-compliance with legal or regulatory requirements.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes include implementing strict access control checks, validating all user inputs, and ensuring role-based access control (RBAC) is correctly configured.
- Security best practices involve regular audits of access control policies, using the principle of least privilege, and keeping software up-to-date with security patches.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include using established libraries for authentication and authorization, employing static and dynamic analysis tools to identify access control weaknesses, and leveraging frameworks that provide built-in security features.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not Technology-Specific, ICS/OT