CWE-340: Generation of Predictable Numbers or Identifiers

What is Generation of Predictable Numbers or Identifiers?

• Overview: The Generation of Predictable Numbers or Identifiers vulnerability occurs when a system creates numbers or identifiers (such as session IDs, cryptographic nonces, or tokens) that are easier to predict than necessary, potentially allowing unauthorized access or manipulation.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by predicting or guessing the next number or identifier in the sequence.
• Common attack patterns include brute-forcing identifiers, exploiting weak random number generators, and analyzing patterns in generated numbers.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to systems, data leakage, and bypassing authentication mechanisms.
• Potential cascading effects involve further exploitation of compromised systems, leading to privilege escalation or lateral movement.
• Business impact includes loss of sensitive data, reputational damage, and financial loss from fraud or system downtime.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Use cryptographically secure random number generators for generating identifiers.
• Avoid using predictable information, such as timestamps or sequential numbers, in identifiers.
• Implement rate limiting and monitoring to detect and mitigate brute-force attacks.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include libraries like OpenSSL or language-specific secure random libraries that provide robust randomness.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not specified

Affected Technologies: Not specified