CWE-278: Insecure Preserved Inherited Permissions
Description
A product inherits a set of insecure permissions for an object, e.g. when copying from an archive file, without user awareness or involvement.
- Abstraction
- VariantA weakness tied to a specific language, technology or resource.
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Status
- Incomplete
Common consequences
- ConfidentialityIntegrity
Read Application Data; Modify Application Data
Potential mitigations
- Architecture and DesignOperation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
- Architecture and DesignSeparation of Privilege
Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
Related weaknesses
Parent weaknesses
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit it
CWE 4.20 links no CAPEC attack pattern to this weakness.