Category: OWASP Top Ten 2004 Category A7 - Improper Error Handling
Obsolete
Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the A7 category in the OWASP Top Ten 2004.
Membership
| ID | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CWE-203 | Observable Discrepancy | This vulnerability occurs when an application responds differently to unauthorized users based on internal conditions. Attackers can observe these variations—like changes in error messages, timing, or system behavior—to infer sensitive information, such as whether a username exists, a password is incorrect, or a specific operation succeeded. |
| CWE-209 | Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information | This vulnerability occurs when an application reveals sensitive details about its internal systems, user data, or environment within error messages shown to users. |
| CWE-228 | Improper Handling of Syntactically Invalid Structure | This vulnerability occurs when software fails to properly reject or process input that doesn't follow the expected format or structure, often leading to crashes or unexpected behavior. |
| CWE-252 | Unchecked Return Value | This vulnerability occurs when a program fails to verify the result of a function or method call, allowing it to continue execution without detecting errors or unexpected conditions. |
| CWE-390 | Detection of Error Condition Without Action | This weakness occurs when software successfully identifies an error condition but then fails to take any meaningful action to address it. The error is detected but ignored, leaving the system in an inconsistent or vulnerable state. |
| CWE-391 | Unchecked Error Condition | This vulnerability occurs when a program fails to properly check or handle error conditions, such as exceptions or return codes. By ignoring these failures, the software can enter an unexpected state that attackers might exploit, often without any logging or user notification. |
| CWE-394 | Unexpected Status Code or Return Value | This vulnerability occurs when software fails to properly validate the full range of possible return values from a function or system call. While a returned value might be technically valid for that operation, the application doesn't anticipate or handle it correctly, leading to unexpected behavior. |
| CWE-636 | Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') | This vulnerability occurs when a system, upon encountering an error or failure, defaults to its least secure configuration instead of a safer alternative. Examples include reverting to the weakest encryption or the most permissive access rules. |
| CWE-7 | J2EE Misconfiguration: Missing Custom Error Page | This vulnerability occurs when a J2EE application uses the server's default error pages instead of custom ones, potentially leaking sensitive system details. |
| CWE-711 | Weaknesses in OWASP Top Ten (2004) | CWE entries in this view (graph) are associated with the OWASP Top Ten, as released in 2004, and as required for compliance with PCI DSS version 1.1. This view is considered obsolete as a newer version of the OWASP Top Ten is available. |
| CWE-389 | Error Conditions, Return Values, Status Codes | This category includes weaknesses that occur if a function does not generate the correct return/status code, or if the application does not handle all possible return/status codes that could be generated by a function. This type of problem is most often found in conditions that are rarely encountered during the normal operation of the product. Presumably, most bugs related to common conditions are found and eliminated during development and testing. In some cases, the attacker can directly control or influence the environment to trigger the rare conditions. |
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Usage: Prohibited
Reasons: Category
Rationale:
This entry is a Category. Using categories for mapping has been discouraged since 2019. Categories are informal organizational groupings of weaknesses that can help CWE users with data aggregation, navigation, and browsing. However, they are not weaknesses in themselves.
Comment:
See member weaknesses of this category.