CWE-912: Hidden Functionality
Learn about CWE-912 (Hidden Functionality), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Hidden Functionality?
• Overview: Hidden Functionality (CWE-912) refers to any functionality within a product that is not documented, not part of the official specification, and not easily accessible to users or administrators. This can include both benign and potentially harmful elements like Easter Eggs, hard-coded accounts, or developer shortcuts.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit hidden functionality by discovering undocumented features or backdoors that bypass security controls.
- Common attack patterns include reverse engineering to discover hidden code paths or using fuzzing techniques to identify unexpected behavior.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences of exploitation can include unauthorized access, data leakage, or execution of unintended operations.
- Potential cascading effects might involve escalation of privileges or lateral movement within a network.
- Business impact may involve reputational damage, financial loss, or regulatory penalties due to security breaches.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes involve removing or fully documenting all non-essential code and features.
- Security best practices include conducting thorough code reviews and security testing to identify and eliminate hidden features.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include static analysis tools to detect undocumented code and dynamic analysis to monitor for unexpected behaviors.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not Technology-Specific, ICS/OT