CWE-822: Untrusted Pointer Dereference

What is Untrusted Pointer Dereference?

• Overview: Untrusted Pointer Dereference occurs when a program takes a value from an untrusted source, converts it to a pointer, and uses that pointer to access memory. This can lead to unexpected behavior if the memory location pointed to is not what the program intended to access.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can supply crafted inputs that are interpreted as pointers to control which memory address the program accesses.
• Common attack patterns include supplying pointers that lead to sensitive data, critical program variables, or unintended memory areas.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized read or write access to memory, possibly leading to data leakage or data corruption.
• Potential cascading effects include application crashes, privilege escalation, or execution of malicious code.
• Business impact may involve data breaches, system downtime, and damage to reputation due to compromised security.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes involve validating and sanitizing all inputs that could be used as pointers, ensuring they point to safe memory locations.
• Security best practices include implementing access controls and using safe APIs for memory access.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include static analysis tools to detect pointer-related vulnerabilities and memory-safe programming languages or libraries.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not specified

Affected Technologies: Not specified