CWE-330 - Use of Insufficiently Random Values
- Abstraction:Class
- Structure:Simple
- Status:Stable
- Release Date:2006-07-19
- Latest Modification Date:2025-09-09
Weakness Name
Use of Insufficiently Random Values
Description
The product uses insufficiently random numbers or values in a security context that depends on unpredictable numbers.
Common Consequences
Scope: Confidentiality, Other
Impact: Other
Notes: When a protection mechanism relies on random values to restrict access to a sensitive resource, such as a session ID or a seed for generating a cryptographic key, then the resource being protected could be accessed by guessing the ID or key.
Scope: Access Control, Other
Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism, Other
Notes: If product relies on unique, unguessable IDs to identify a resource, an attacker might be able to guess an ID for a resource that is owned by another user. The attacker could then read the resource, or pre-create a resource with the same ID to prevent the legitimate program from properly sending the resource to the intended user. For example, a product might maintain session information in a file whose name is based on a username. An attacker could pre-create this file for a victim user, then set the permissions so that the application cannot generate the session for the victim, preventing the victim from using the application.
Scope: Access Control
Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Notes: When an authorization or authentication mechanism relies on random values to restrict access to restricted functionality, such as a session ID or a seed for generating a cryptographic key, then an attacker may access the restricted functionality by guessing the ID or key.