Omission of a break statement might be intentional, in order to support fallthrough. Automated detection methods might therefore be erroneous. Semantic understanding of expected product behavior is required to interpret whether the code is correct.
CWE-484 Base Rascunho
Omitted Break Statement in Switch
This vulnerability occurs when a developer forgets to include a 'break' statement inside a switch-case block. Without it, the code execution 'falls through' and unintentionally runs the logic for…
Definição
What is CWE-484?
This vulnerability occurs when a developer forgets to include a 'break' statement inside a switch-case block. Without it, the code execution 'falls through' and unintentionally runs the logic for subsequent cases, leading to unexpected behavior.
A missing 'break' statement causes a switch block to fail its primary purpose: executing one distinct code path. Instead, it cascades from the matched case into the code for the cases below it. This 'fall-through' behavior is a common logic error that can bypass critical security checks, corrupt data, or trigger functions that should only run under specific conditions.
While some languages allow intentional fall-through for specific patterns, omitting 'break' by mistake is a frequent source of bugs. To prevent this, developers should adopt a defensive coding style, such as always adding a 'break' as the default action and using linter rules to flag missing statements. Explicitly commenting any intentional fall-throughs makes the code safer and more maintainable.
Impacto no mundo real
Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-484
Ainda não há referências CVE públicas associadas a este CWE no catálogo da MITRE.
Como os atacantes a exploram
Trajeto do atacante passo a passo
- 1
Identificar um caminho de código que trata input não confiável sem validação.
- 2
Criar um payload que explora o comportamento inseguro — injeção, traversal, overflow ou abuso de lógica.
- 3
Entregar o payload através de um pedido normal e observar a reação da aplicação.
- 4
Iterar até que a resposta exponha dados, execute código do atacante ou escale privilégios.
Exemplo de código vulnerável
Vulnerable Java
In both of these examples, a message is printed based on the month passed into the function:
public void printMessage(int month){
switch (month) {
case 1: print("January");
case 2: print("February");
case 3: print("March");
case 4: print("April");
case 5: print("May");
case 6: print("June");
case 7: print("July");
case 8: print("August");
case 9: print("September");
case 10: print("October");
case 11: print("November");
case 12: print("December");
}
println(" is a great month");
} Exemplo de código seguro
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.
Lista de verificação de prevenção
How to prevent CWE-484
- Implementation Omitting a break statement so that one may fall through is often indistinguishable from an error, and therefore should be avoided. If you need to use fall-through capabilities, make sure that you have clearly documented this within the switch statement, and ensure that you have examined all the logical possibilities.
- Implementation The functionality of omitting a break statement could be clarified with an if statement. This method is much safer.
Sinais de deteção
How to detect CWE-484
Since this weakness is associated with a code construct, it would be indistinguishable from other errors that produce the same behavior.
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)
O Plexicus deteta automaticamente o CWE-484 e abre um PR de correção em menos de 60 segundos.
O Codex Remedium analisa cada commit, identifica esta fraqueza exata e entrega um pull request pronto para revisão com o patch. Sem tickets. Sem transferências.
Perguntas frequentes O que é o CWE-484?
Qual a gravidade do CWE-484?
Que linguagens ou plataformas são afetadas pelo CWE-484?
Como posso prevenir o CWE-484?
Como é que o Plexicus deteta e corrige o CWE-484?
Onde posso saber mais sobre o CWE-484?
Frequently asked questions
O que é o CWE-484?
This vulnerability occurs when a developer forgets to include a 'break' statement inside a switch-case block. Without it, the code execution 'falls through' and unintentionally runs the logic for subsequent cases, leading to unexpected behavior.
Qual a gravidade do CWE-484?
A MITRE classifica a probabilidade de exploração como Média — a exploração é realista mas normalmente requer condições específicas.
Que linguagens ou plataformas são afetadas pelo CWE-484?
MITRE lists the following affected platforms: C, C++, Java, C#, PHP.
Como posso prevenir o CWE-484?
Omitting a break statement so that one may fall through is often indistinguishable from an error, and therefore should be avoided. If you need to use fall-through capabilities, make sure that you have clearly documented this within the switch statement, and ensure that you have examined all the logical possibilities. The functionality of omitting a break statement could be clarified with an if statement. This method is much safer.
Como é que o Plexicus deteta e corrige o CWE-484?
O motor SAST do Plexicus correlaciona a assinatura de fluxo de dados do CWE-484 em cada commit. Quando é encontrada uma correspondência, o nosso agente Codex Remedium abre um PR de correção com o código corrigido, testes e um resumo de uma linha para o revisor.
Onde posso saber mais sobre o CWE-484?
A MITRE publica a definição canónica em https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/484.html. Pode também consultar a documentação da OWASP e do NIST para orientações adjacentes.
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