CWE-263 Base Brouillon Low likelihood

Password Aging with Long Expiration

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

Définition

What is CWE-263?

The system enforces password changes, but the time allowed between changes is excessively long, weakening security.
Password aging, or forced password rotation, is a security policy that requires users to update their passwords after a set period, like every 30 or 90 days. When this expiration window is too long, it gives attackers significantly more time to crack passwords through brute-force or dictionary attacks before a user is forced to change them. While password rotation was once a standard recommendation, many security experts now consider it less effective against modern threats compared to strong, slow hashing algorithms and multi-factor authentication. Forcing frequent changes can also lead to user fatigue, resulting in weaker, predictable passwords. However, this practice often remains in place to meet specific compliance requirements, such as those found in the PCI DSS standard.
Impact réel

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-263

Aucune référence CVE publique n'est liée à ce CWE dans le catalogue MITRE pour le moment.

Comment les attaquants l'exploitent

Parcours de l'attaquant étape par étape

  1. 1

    Identifier un chemin de code qui traite des entrées non fiables sans validation.

  2. 2

    Élaborer une charge utile qui exploite le comportement non sécurisé — injection, traversal, débordement ou abus de logique.

  3. 3

    Délivrer la charge utile via une requête normale et observer la réaction de l'application.

  4. 4

    Itérer jusqu'à ce que la réponse divulgue des données, exécute le code de l'attaquant ou élève les privilèges.

Exemple de code vulnérable

Vulnerable pseudo

MITRE n'a pas publié d'exemple de code pour ce CWE. Le motif ci-dessous est illustratif — voir Ressources pour les références canoniques.

Vulnérable pseudo 
// Example pattern — see MITRE for the canonical references.
function handleRequest(input) {
  // Untrusted input flows directly into the sensitive sink.
  return executeUnsafe(input);
}
Exemple de code sécurisé

Secure pseudo

Sécurisé 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.
Liste de contrôle de prévention

How to prevent CWE-263

  • Implementation Previously, "password expiration" was widely advocated as a defense-in-depth approach to minimize the risk of weak passwords, and it has become a common practice. Password expiration requires a password to be changed within a fixed time window (such as every 90 days). However, this approach has significant limitations in the current threat landscape, and its utility has been reduced in light of the adoption of related protection mechanisms (such as password complexity and computational effort), along with the recognition that regular password changes often caused users to generate more predictable passwords. As a result, this is now a Discouraged Common Practice [REF-1488] [REF-1489], especially as the sole factor in protecting passwords. It is still strongly encouraged to force password changes in case of evidence of compromise, but this is not the same as a forced "expiration" on an arbitrary time frame.
  • Architecture and Design Ensure that password aging is limited so that there is a defined maximum age for passwords. Note that if the expiration window is too short, it can cause users to generate poor or predictable passwords.
  • Architecture and Design Ensure that the user is notified several times leading up to the password expiration.
  • Architecture and Design Create mechanisms to prevent users from reusing passwords or creating similar passwords.
  • Implementation Developers might disable clipboard paste operations into password fields as a way to discourage users from pasting a password into a clipboard. However, this might encourage users to choose less-secure passwords that are easier to type, and it can reduce the usability of password managers [REF-1294].
Signaux de détection

How to detect CWE-263

SAST High

Exécuter une analyse statique (SAST) sur le code source à la recherche du motif non sécurisé dans le flux de données.

DAST Moderate

Exécuter des tests de sécurité applicative dynamique (DAST) contre le point de terminaison en ligne.

Runtime Moderate

Surveiller les journaux runtime pour détecter des traces d'exception inhabituelles, des entrées malformées ou des tentatives de contournement d'autorisation.

Code review Moderate

Revue de code : signaler tout nouveau code qui traite les entrées de cette surface sans utiliser les helpers du framework validés.

Correction automatique Plexicus

Plexicus détecte automatiquement CWE-263 et ouvre une PR de correction en moins de 60 secondes.

Codex Remedium analyse chaque commit, identifie cette faiblesse précise et livre une pull request prête à être relue avec le correctif. Pas de tickets. Pas de transferts.

Obtenir une démo Essayer Plexicus gratuitement
Questions fréquentes

Frequently asked questions

Qu'est-ce que CWE-263 ?

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

Quelle est la gravité de CWE-263 ?

MITRE évalue la probabilité d'exploitation comme Faible — l'exploitation est rare, mais la faiblesse doit tout de même être corrigée lorsqu'elle est découverte.

Quels langages ou plateformes sont affectés par CWE-263 ?

MITRE n'a pas spécifié les plateformes affectées pour ce CWE — il peut s'appliquer à la plupart des stacks applicatives.

Comment puis-je prévenir CWE-263 ?

Previously, "password expiration" was widely advocated as a defense-in-depth approach to minimize the risk of weak passwords, and it has become a common practice. Password expiration requires a password to be changed within a fixed time window (such as every 90 days). However, this approach has significant limitations in the current threat landscape, and its utility has been reduced in light of the adoption of related protection mechanisms (such as password complexity and computational…

Comment Plexicus détecte et corrige CWE-263 ?

Le moteur SAST de Plexicus reconnaît la signature de flux de données de CWE-263 à chaque commit. Lorsqu'une correspondance est trouvée, notre agent Codex Remedium ouvre une PR de correction avec le code corrigé, les tests et un résumé d'une ligne pour le relecteur.

Où puis-je en savoir plus sur CWE-263 ?

MITRE publie la définition canonique à https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/263.html. Vous pouvez également consulter la documentation OWASP et NIST pour des conseils adjacents.

Faiblesses associées

Weaknesses related to CWE-263

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 Frère

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 Frère

Not Using Password Aging

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

CWE-289 Frère

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 Frère

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 Frère

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 Frère

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 Frère

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…

CWE-303 Frère

Incorrect Implementation of Authentication Algorithm

This weakness occurs when a developer implements a standard authentication algorithm, but makes critical mistakes in the code that cause…

Ressources

Further reading

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