Weakness · High
CWE-1390: Weak Authentication
What it is
The product uses an authentication mechanism to restrict access to specific users or identities, but the mechanism does not sufficiently prove that the claimed identity is correct.
- 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
Attackers may be able to bypass weak authentication faster and/or with less effort than expected.
What an attacker can do
- Read Application Data (Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control)
- Gain Privileges or Assume Identity (Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control)
- Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands (Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control)
How to prevent it
MITRE lists no specific mitigation for this weakness. Treat it like its parent weaknesses below: validate input, keep the design simple and review the code where it could appear.
Exploited in the wild: 3 CVEs
Vulnerabilities caused by CWE-1390 that attackers have used, from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, newest first.
- CVE-2026-55040Microsoft SharePoint Weak Authentication Vulnerability · added August 18, 2026
- CVE-2021-38648Microsoft Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) Privilege Escalation Vulnerability · added November 3, 2021
- CVE-2021-38647 ransomwareMicrosoft Open Management Infrastructure (OMI) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability · added November 3, 2021
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Start freeSource: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.