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CWE-667 - Improper Locking

CWE-667

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

Improper Locking

Description

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.

Locking is a type of synchronization behavior that ensures that multiple independently-operating processes or threads do not interfere with each other when accessing the same resource. All processes/threads are expected to follow the same steps for locking. If these steps are not followed precisely - or if no locking is done at all - then another process/thread could modify the shared resource in a way that is not visible or predictable to the original process. This can lead to data or memory corruption, denial of service, etc.

Common Consequences

Scope: Availability

Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)

Notes: Inconsistent locking discipline can lead to deadlock.

Related Weaknesses
  • Release Date:
  • 2008-04-11
  • Latest Modification Date:
  • 2023-06-29