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CWE-191 - Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)

CWE-191

  • Abstraction:
  • Base
  • Structure:
  • Simple
  • Status:
  • Draft
Weakness Name

Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)

Description

The product subtracts one value from another, such that the result is less than the minimum allowable integer value, which produces a value that is not equal to the correct result.

This can happen in signed and unsigned cases.

Common Consequences

Scope: Availability

Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU), DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory), DoS: Instability

Notes: This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high.

Scope: Integrity

Impact: Modify Memory

Notes: If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur.

Scope: Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control

Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, Bypass Protection Mechanism

Notes: This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy.

Related Weaknesses
  • Release Date:
  • 2006-07-19
  • Latest Modification Date:
  • 2023-06-29

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