CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
Learn about CWE-668 (Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere?
• Overview: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere occurs when a software application inadvertently allows access to its resources (like files and directories) by unintended or unauthorized actors. This typically happens due to insecure permission settings or when the software incorrectly handles resources, leading to exposure beyond the intended control sphere.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by accessing files or resources that should be restricted to certain users or groups.
- Common attack patterns include guessing or manipulating file paths, exploiting misconfigurations, and leveraging default or weak permissions.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive data, potential data leakage, and misuse of resources.
- Potential cascading effects can lead to further exploitation, such as privilege escalation or lateral movement within a network.
- Business impact might involve loss of customer trust, legal ramifications, and financial losses due to data breaches or compliance failures.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes include validating file paths, ensuring proper permission checks, and avoiding hard-coded credentials.
- Security best practices involve regularly reviewing and updating access controls and permissions, implementing least privilege principles, and conducting security audits.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include static and dynamic code analysis tools, access control libraries, and security configuration management solutions.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not specified