Weakness · High
CWE-205: Observable Behavioral Discrepancy
What it is
The product's behaviors indicate important differences that may be observed by unauthorized actors in a way that reveals (1) its internal state or decision process, or (2) differences from other products with equivalent functionality.
- Severity (our rating)
- High
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Introduced during
- Architecture and Design, Implementation
- Exploited in the wild
- No CVE in CISA's catalog
In more detail
Ideally, a product should provide as little information about its internal operations as possible. Otherwise, attackers could use knowledge of these internal operations to simplify or optimize their attack. In some cases, behavioral discrepancies can be used by attackers to form a side channel.
What an attacker can do
- Read Application Data (Confidentiality, Access Control)
- Bypass Protection Mechanism (Confidentiality, 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.
H2 Security
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We review where it appears, fix it with your team, and check it was not already used against you.
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Start freeSource: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.