CWE-266

Incorrect Privilege Assignment

Weakness Description

A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

Potential Mitigations

Architecture and DesignOperation

Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.

Architecture and DesignOperation

Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks [REF-76]. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.

Common Consequences

Access Control
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

A user can access restricted functionality and/or sensitive information that may include administrative functionality and user accounts.

Advertisement

Related Weaknesses