Weakness · Medium

CWE-568: finalize() Method Without super.finalize()

What it is

The product contains a finalize() method that does not call super.finalize().

MITRE CWE 4.19.1

Severity (our rating)
Medium
Likelihood of exploit
Not rated by MITRE
Introduced during
Implementation
Exploited in the wild
No CVE in CISA's catalog

In more detail

The Java Language Specification states that it is a good practice for a finalize() method to call super.finalize().

What an attacker can do

  • Quality Degradation (Other)

How to prevent it

Implementation

  • Call the super.finalize() method.

Testing

  • Use static analysis tools to spot such issues in your code.

How to find it

  • Automated Static Analysis. Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

CWE-568 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.