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Weakness · High

CWE-1220: Insufficient Granularity of Access Control

What it is

The product implements access controls via a policy or other feature with the intention to disable or restrict accesses (reads and/or writes) to assets in a system from untrusted agents. However, implemented access controls lack required granularity, which renders the control policy too broad because it allows accesses from unauthorized agents to the security-sensitive assets.

3 exploited in the wildMITRE CWE 4.19.1

Severity (our rating)
High
Likelihood of exploit
Not rated by MITRE
Introduced during
Architecture and Design, Implementation
Exploited in the wild
3 known exploited CVEs

In more detail

Integrated circuits and hardware engines can expose accesses to assets (device configuration, keys, etc.) to trusted firmware or a software module (commonly set by BIOS/bootloader). This access is typically access-controlled. Upon a power reset, the hardware or system usually starts with default values in registers, and the trusted firmware (Boot firmware) configures the necessary access-control protection. A common weakness that can exist in such protection schemes is that access controls or policies are not granular enough. This condition allows agents beyond trusted agents to access assets and could lead to a loss of functionality or the ability to set up the device securely. This further results in security risks from leaked, sensitive, key material to modification of device configuration.

What an attacker can do

  • Modify Memory (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Read Memory (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Gain Privileges or Assume Identity (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Bypass Protection Mechanism (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)
  • Other (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access Control)

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design

  • Access-control-policy protections must be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses. Access-control-policy definition and programming flow must be tested in pre-silicon, post-silicon testing.

CWE-1220 on MITRE's CWE site

Exploited in the wild: 3 CVEs

Vulnerabilities caused by CWE-1220 that attackers have used, from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, newest first.

All known exploited vulnerabilities

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Source: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.