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CWE-770 - Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

CWE-770 High

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

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Description

The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated, in violation of the intended security policy for that actor.

Code frequently has to work with limited resources, so programmers must be careful to ensure that resources are not consumed too quickly, or too easily. Without use of quotas, resource limits, or other protection mechanisms, it can be easy for an attacker to consume many resources by rapidly making many requests, or causing larger resources to be used than is needed. When too many resources are allocated, or if a single resource is too large, then it can prevent the code from working correctly, possibly leading to a denial of service.

Common Consequences

Scope: Availability

Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU), DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory), DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)

Notes: When allocating resources without limits, an attacker could prevent other systems, applications, or processes from accessing the same type of resource.

Related Weaknesses
  • Release Date:
  • 2009-05-27
  • Latest Modification Date:
  • 2024-02-29

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