CWE-665: Improper Initialization

What is Improper Initialization?

• Overview: Improper Initialization (CWE-665) occurs when a software product does not initialize a resource correctly, potentially leaving it in an unexpected state. This can lead to security vulnerabilities when the resource is assumed to have specific properties or values, such as a status indicator for user authentication.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by accessing resources that have been improperly initialized, potentially manipulating them to bypass security checks.
• Common attack patterns include injecting malicious data into uninitialized variables or taking advantage of default values that lead to unintended behavior.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive data or functions, as the software might misinterpret the state of a resource.
• Potential cascading effects involve further exploitation of the system, leading to broader security breaches.
• Business impact could range from data loss and corruption to reputational damage and financial loss due to security incidents.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include explicitly initializing all variables and resources before use, ensuring no assumptions are made about their state.
• Security best practices involve rigorous code reviews and static analysis to detect uninitialized resources.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using language-specific compilers and static analysis tools that flag improper initialization, along with adhering to secure coding standards and guidelines.

Corgea can automatically detect and fix Improper Initialization in your codebase. [Try Corgea free today](https://corgea.app).

Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Medium

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

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const http = require('http');

function fetchData(url) {
    let data;  // Vulnerable: 'data' is declared but not initialized, leading to 'undefined' issues

    http.get(url, (res) => {
        res.on('data', (chunk) => {
            data += chunk;  // Concatenating 'undefined' with strings results in 'undefinedchunk'
        });

        res.on('end', () => {
            console.log(data);  // Output may be incorrect if 'data' is not initialized
        });
    }).on('error', (e) => {
        console.error(`Got error: \${e.message}`);  // Error handling for HTTP request
    });
}

How to fix Improper Initialization?

In JavaScript, improper initialization can lead to unexpected values or behaviors, such as undefined being concatenated with strings. To fix this:

1. Initialize variables with an appropriate default value before using them.
2. Ensure that variables are always in a consistent state before they are used.

Fixed Code Example

const http = require('http');

function fetchData(url) {
    let data = '';  // Properly initialize 'data' as an empty string to avoid 'undefined' issues

    http.get(url, (res) => {
        res.on('data', (chunk) => {
            data += chunk;  // Correctly concatenates chunks of data as strings
        });

        res.on('end', () => {
            console.log(data);  // Outputs the correctly concatenated data
        });
    }).on('error', (e) => {
        console.error(`Got error: \${e.message}`);  // Error handling for HTTP request
    });
}

In these examples, proper initialization of variables ensures that the code behaves as expected, preventing runtime errors and undefined behaviors. Proper initialization is a crucial step in maintaining code reliability and security.