CWE-463: Deletion of Data Structure Sentinel
Description
The accidental deletion of a data-structure sentinel can cause serious programming logic problems.
Often times data-structure sentinels are used to mark structure of the data structure. A common example of this is the null character at the end of strings. Another common example is linked lists which may contain a sentinel to mark the end of the list. It is dangerous to allow this type of control data to be easily accessible. Therefore, it is important to protect from the deletion or modification outside of some wrapper interface which provides safety.
- Abstraction
- BaseA weakness specific enough to point to detection and prevention methods.
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Status
- Incomplete
Common consequences
- AvailabilityOther
Other
Generally this error will cause the data structure to not work properly.
- AuthorizationOther
Other
If a control character, such as NULL is removed, one may cause resource access control problems.
Potential mitigations
- Architecture and Design
Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
- Build and CompilationCompilation or Build HardeningEffectiveness: Defense in Depth
Run or compile the software using features or extensions that automatically provide a protection mechanism that mitigates or eliminates buffer overflows. For example, certain compilers and extensions provide automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are built into the compiled code. Examples include the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice.
- Operation
Use OS-level preventative functionality. Not a complete solution.
Related weaknesses
Parent weaknesses
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit it
CWE 4.20 links no CAPEC attack pattern to this weakness.