Weakness · High

CWE-603: Use of Client-Side Authentication

What it is

A client/server product performs authentication within client code but not in server code, allowing server-side authentication to be bypassed via a modified client that omits the authentication check.

MITRE CWE 4.19.1

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

Client-side authentication is extremely weak and may be breached easily. Any attacker may read the source code and reverse-engineer the authentication mechanism to access parts of the application which would otherwise be protected.

What an attacker can do

  • Bypass Protection Mechanism (Access Control)
  • Gain Privileges or Assume Identity (Access Control)

How to prevent it

Architecture and Design

  • Do not rely on client side data. Always perform server side authentication.

CWE-603 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.