CWE-309 Base Borrador High likelihood

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…

Definición

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.
Impacto en el mundo real

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-309

Todavía no hay CVEs públicos enlazados a esta CWE en el catálogo de MITRE.

Cómo lo explotan los atacantes

Ruta del atacante paso a paso

  1. 1

    Identifica una ruta de código que maneje entrada no confiable sin validación.

  2. 2

    Crea un payload que ejercite el comportamiento inseguro — inyección, traversal, overflow o abuso de lógica.

  3. 3

    Envía el payload a través de una solicitud normal y observa la reacción de la aplicación.

  4. 4

    Itera hasta que la respuesta filtre datos, ejecute código del atacante o escale privilegios.

Ejemplo de código vulnerable

Vulnerable C

In both of these examples, a user is logged in if their given password matches a stored password:

Vulnerable C 
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();
  	}
  }
Ejemplo de código seguro

Secure pseudo

Seguro 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.
Lista de prevención

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.
Señales de detección

How to detect CWE-309

SAST High

Ejecuta análisis estático (SAST) sobre el código buscando el patrón inseguro en el flujo de datos.

DAST Moderate

Ejecuta pruebas dinámicas de seguridad de aplicaciones (DAST) contra el endpoint en vivo.

Runtime Moderate

Vigila los logs en tiempo de ejecución para detectar trazas de excepción inusuales, entradas malformadas o intentos de bypass de autorización.

Code review Moderate

Revisión de código: marca cualquier código nuevo que maneje entrada desde esta superficie sin usar los helpers validados del framework.

Auto-corrección de Plexicus

Plexicus detecta automáticamente CWE-309 y abre un PR de corrección en menos de 60 segundos.

Codex Remedium escanea cada commit, identifica esta debilidad concreta y entrega un pull request listo para revisión con el parche. Sin tickets. Sin traspasos.

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Preguntas frecuentes

Frequently asked questions

¿Qué es 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.

¿Qué gravedad tiene CWE-309?

MITRE califica la probabilidad de explotación como Alta — esta debilidad se explota activamente en la práctica y debe priorizarse para su remediación.

¿Qué lenguajes o plataformas se ven afectados por CWE-309?

MITRE no ha especificado plataformas afectadas para esta CWE — puede aplicar a la mayoría de los stacks de aplicaciones.

¿Cómo puedo prevenir CWE-309?

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…

¿Cómo detecta y corrige Plexicus CWE-309?

El motor SAST de Plexicus detecta la firma de flujo de datos para CWE-309 en cada commit. Cuando hay coincidencia, nuestro agente Codex Remedium abre un PR de corrección con el código corregido, las pruebas y un resumen de una línea para el revisor.

¿Dónde puedo aprender más sobre CWE-309?

MITRE publica la definición canónica en https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/309.html. También puedes consultar la documentación de OWASP y NIST para guías relacionadas.

Debilidades relacionadas

Weaknesses related to CWE-309

CWE-1390 Padre

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 Hermano

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 Hermano

Not Using Password Aging

This vulnerability occurs when a system lacks password expiration policies, allowing users to keep the same password indefinitely.

CWE-263 Hermano

Password Aging with Long Expiration

The system enforces password changes, but the time allowed between changes is excessively long, weakening security.

CWE-289 Hermano

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 Hermano

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 Hermano

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 Hermano

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 Hermano

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…

Recursos

Further reading

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