Führe statische Analyse (SAST) auf der Codebasis aus und suche im Datenfluss nach dem unsicheren Muster.
CWE-309 Base Draft
Use of Password System for Primary Authentication
This weakness occurs when an application relies solely on password-based authentication as its main security gate. This single-factor approach is inherently vulnerable to a range of attacks that can…
Definition
What is CWE-309?
This weakness occurs when an application relies solely on password-based authentication as its main security gate. This single-factor approach is inherently vulnerable to a range of attacks that can compromise user accounts.
Relying only on passwords for authentication creates a single point of failure in your security model. Passwords are frequently weak, reused across sites, or stolen through phishing, data breaches, or brute-force attacks. Without additional safeguards, an attacker who obtains a password gains full access to the associated account and its privileges.
To mitigate this, you should implement defense-in-depth by adding secondary authentication factors (multi-factor authentication). Additionally, enforce strong password policies, use secure hashing algorithms (like Argon2 or bcrypt) for storage, and implement account lockouts or rate-limiting to thwart automated attacks. Treating passwords as the sole authentication method is a high-risk design choice in modern applications.
Auswirkungen in der Praxis
Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-309
Bisher sind in MITREs Katalog keine öffentlichen CVE-Referenzen mit dieser CWE verknüpft.
Wie Angreifer es ausnutzen
Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt
- 1
Identifiziere einen Codepfad, der nicht vertrauenswürdige Eingaben ohne Validierung verarbeitet.
- 2
Erzeuge eine Payload, die das unsichere Verhalten auslöst — Injection, Traversal, Overflow oder Logik-Missbrauch.
- 3
Liefere die Payload über einen normalen Request aus und beobachte die Reaktion der Anwendung.
- 4
Iteriere, bis die Antwort Daten preisgibt, Angreifer-Code ausführt oder Berechtigungen eskaliert.
Verwundbares Codebeispiel
Vulnerable C
In both of these examples, a user is logged in if their given password matches a stored password:
unsigned char *check_passwd(char *plaintext) {
ctext = simple_digest("sha1",plaintext,strlen(plaintext), ... );
```
//Login if hash matches stored hash*
if (equal(ctext, secret_password())) {
```
login_user();
}
} Sicheres Codebeispiel
Secure pseudo
// Validate, sanitize, or use a safe API before reaching the sink.
function handleRequest(input) {
const safe = validateAndEscape(input);
return executeWithGuards(safe);
} What changed: the unsafe sink is replaced (or the input is validated/escaped) so the same payload no longer triggers the weakness.
Präventions-Checkliste
How to prevent CWE-309
- Architecture and Design In order to protect password systems from compromise, the following should be noted: - Passwords should be stored safely to prevent insider attack and to ensure that -- if a system is compromised -- the passwords are not retrievable. Due to password reuse, this information may be useful in the compromise of other systems these users work with. In order to protect these passwords, they should be stored encrypted, in a non-reversible state, such that the original text password cannot be extracted from the stored value. - Password aging should be strictly enforced to ensure that passwords do not remain unchanged for long periods of time. The longer a password remains in use, the higher the probability that it has been compromised. For this reason, passwords should require refreshing periodically, and users should be informed of the risk of passwords which remain in use for too long. - Password strength should be enforced intelligently. Rather than restrict passwords to specific content, or specific length, users should be encouraged to use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols in their passwords. The system should also ensure that no passwords are derived from dictionary words.
- Architecture and Design Use a zero-knowledge password protocol, such as SRP.
- Architecture and Design Ensure that passwords are stored safely and are not reversible.
- Architecture and Design Implement password aging functionality that requires passwords be changed after a certain point.
- Architecture and Design Use a mechanism for determining the strength of a password and notify the user of weak password use.
- Architecture and Design Inform the user of why password protections are in place, how they work to protect data integrity, and why it is important to heed their warnings.
Erkennungssignale
How to detect CWE-309
Führe dynamische Application-Security-Tests gegen den Live-Endpoint aus.
Beobachte Runtime-Logs auf ungewöhnliche Exception-Traces, fehlerhafte Eingaben oder Versuche, Autorisierung zu umgehen.
Code Review: Markiere jeden neuen Code, der Eingaben von dieser Oberfläche ohne validierte Framework-Helper verarbeitet.
Plexicus erkennt CWE-309 automatisch und öffnet in unter 60 Sekunden einen Fix-PR.
Codex Remedium scannt jeden Commit, identifiziert genau diese Schwachstelle und liefert einen reviewer-ready Pull Request mit dem Patch. Keine Tickets. Keine Hand-offs.
Häufig gestellte Fragen Was ist CWE-309?
Wie gravierend ist CWE-309?
Welche Sprachen oder Plattformen sind von CWE-309 betroffen?
Wie kann ich CWE-309 verhindern?
Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-309?
Wo erfahre ich mehr über CWE-309?
Frequently asked questions
Was ist CWE-309?
This weakness occurs when an application relies solely on password-based authentication as its main security gate. This single-factor approach is inherently vulnerable to a range of attacks that can compromise user accounts.
Wie gravierend ist CWE-309?
MITRE stuft die Exploit-Wahrscheinlichkeit als hoch ein — diese Schwachstelle wird aktiv in freier Wildbahn ausgenutzt und sollte priorisiert behoben werden.
Welche Sprachen oder Plattformen sind von CWE-309 betroffen?
MITRE hat für diese CWE keine betroffenen Plattformen spezifiziert — sie kann in den meisten Anwendungs-Stacks auftreten.
Wie kann ich CWE-309 verhindern?
In order to protect password systems from compromise, the following should be noted: - Passwords should be stored safely to prevent insider attack and to ensure that -- if a system is compromised -- the passwords are not retrievable. Due to password reuse, this information may be useful in the compromise of other systems these users work with. In order to protect these passwords, they should be stored encrypted, in a non-reversible state, such that the original text password cannot be…
Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-309?
Die SAST-Engine von Plexicus erkennt die Datenfluss-Signatur von CWE-309 bei jedem Commit. Bei einem Treffer öffnet unser Codex-Remedium-Agent einen Fix-PR mit korrigiertem Code, Tests und einer einzeiligen Zusammenfassung für den Reviewer.
Wo erfahre ich mehr über CWE-309?
MITRE veröffentlicht die kanonische Definition unter https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/309.html. Für ergänzende Hinweise kannst du auch die OWASP- und NIST-Dokumentation heranziehen.
Verwandte Schwachstellen
Weaknesses related to CWE-309
CWE-1390 Parent
Weak Authentication
This vulnerability occurs when a system's login or identity verification process is too easy to bypass or fool. While it attempts to check…
CWE-1391 Sibling
Use of Weak Credentials
This vulnerability occurs when a system relies on weak authentication credentials—like default passwords, hard-coded keys, or easily…
CWE-262 Sibling
Not Using Password Aging
This vulnerability occurs when a system lacks password expiration policies, allowing users to keep the same password indefinitely.
CWE-263 Sibling
Password Aging with Long Expiration
The system enforces password changes, but the time allowed between changes is excessively long, weakening security.
CWE-289 Sibling
Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name
This vulnerability occurs when a system checks access based on a resource or user name, but fails to account for all the different names…
CWE-290 Sibling
Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
This weakness occurs when an application's authentication system can be tricked into accepting forged or manipulated credentials, allowing…
CWE-294 Sibling
Authentication Bypass by Capture-replay
This vulnerability occurs when an attacker can intercept and record legitimate authentication traffic, then replay it later to gain…
CWE-301 Sibling
Reflection Attack in an Authentication Protocol
A reflection attack is a flaw in mutual authentication protocols that allows an attacker to impersonate a legitimate user without knowing…
CWE-302 Sibling
Authentication Bypass by Assumed-Immutable Data
This vulnerability occurs when an authentication system incorrectly treats certain data as unchangeable, when in fact an attacker can…
Bereit, wenn du es bist
Schluss mit dem Bezahlen pro Entwickler.
Schließ den Kreislauf.
Plexicus ist die KI-native ASPM, die scannt, filtert, fixt, pentestet und erklärt — autonom. Unbegrenzte Entwickler, unbegrenzte Repos, Fair-Use-KI-Aktionen. Echter kostenloser Tarif, €269/mo jährlich, wenn du bereit bist.