CWE WEAKNESSES  /  CWE-1220

CWE-1220

Insufficient Granularity of Access Control

What it is

The product implements access controls via a policy or other feature with the intention to disable or restrict accesses (reads and/or writes) to assets in a system from untrusted agents. However, implemented access controls lack required granularity, which renders the control policy too broad because it allows accesses from unauthorized agents to the security-sensitive assets.

Integrated circuits and hardware engines can expose accesses to assets (device configuration, keys, etc.) to trusted firmware or a software module (commonly set by BIOS/bootloader). This access is typically access-controlled. Upon a power reset, the hardware or system usually starts with default values in registers, and the trusted firmware (Boot firmware) configures the necessary access-control protection.A common weakness that can exist in such protection schemes is that access controls or policies are not granular enough. This condition allows agents beyond trusted agents to access assets and could lead to a loss of functionality or the ability to set up the device securely. This further results in security risks from leaked, sensitive, key material to modification of device configuration.

Impact

Mitigations

• [Architecture and Design, Implementation, Testing]- Access-control-policy protections must be reviewed for design inconsistency and common weaknesses.- Access-control-policy definition and programming flow must be tested in pre-silicon, post-silicon testing.

Real-world CVE examples

• CVE-2022-24985 — A form hosting website only checks the session authentication status for a single form, making it possible to bypass authentication when there are multiple form
• CVE-2021-36934 — An operating system has an overly permission Access Control List onsome system files, including those related to user passwords

Related weaknesses

Source: MITRE CWE. View on cwe.mitre.org →