Weakness · Medium

CWE-354: Improper Validation of Integrity Check Value

What it is

The product does not validate or incorrectly validates the integrity check values or "checksums" of a message. This may prevent it from detecting if the data has been modified or corrupted in transmission.

Likelihood of exploit: MediumMITRE CWE 4.19.1

Severity (our rating)
Medium
Likelihood of exploit
Medium
Introduced during
Architecture and Design, Implementation
Exploited in the wild
No CVE in CISA's catalog

In more detail

Improper validation of checksums before use results in an unnecessary risk that can easily be mitigated. The protocol specification describes the algorithm used for calculating the checksum. It is then a simple matter of implementing the calculation and verifying that the calculated checksum and the received checksum match. Improper verification of the calculated checksum and the received checksum can lead to far greater consequences.

What an attacker can do

  • Modify Application Data (Integrity, Other)
  • Other (Integrity, Other, Non-Repudiation)
  • Hide Activities (Non-Repudiation, Other)

How to prevent it

Implementation

  • Ensure that the checksums present in messages are properly checked in accordance with the protocol specification before they are parsed and used.

CWE-354 on MITRE's CWE site

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