Weakness · Medium
CWE-512: Spyware
What it is
The product collects personally identifiable information about a human user or the user's activities, but the product accesses this information using other resources besides itself, and it does not require that user's explicit approval or direct input into the product.
- Severity (our rating)
- Medium
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Introduced during
- Architecture and Design, Implementation, Operation
- Exploited in the wild
- No CVE in CISA's catalog
In more detail
"Spyware" is a commonly used term with many definitions and interpretations. In general, it is meant to refer to products that collect information or install functionality that human users might not allow if they were fully aware of the actions being taken by the software. For example, a user might expect that tax software would collect a social security number and include it when filing a tax return, but that same user would not expect gaming software to obtain the social security number from that tax software's data.
What an attacker can do
- Read Application Data (Confidentiality)
How to prevent it
Operation
- Use spyware detection and removal software.
Installation
- Always verify the integrity of the product that is being installed.
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Start freeSource: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.