CWE-464

Addition of Data Structure Sentinel

Base EXPLOIT LIKELIHOOD: HIGH

What it is

The accidental addition of a data-structure sentinel can cause serious programming logic problems.

Data-structure sentinels are often used to mark the structure of data. A common example of this is the null character at the end of strings or a special sentinel to mark the end of a linked list. It is dangerous to allow this type of control data to be easily accessible. Therefore, it is important to protect from the addition or modification of sentinels.

Impact

Integrity

Modify Application Data

Mitigations

[Implementation, Architecture and Design] Encapsulate the user from interacting with data sentinels. Validate user input to verify that sentinels are not present.
[Implementation] Proper error checking can reduce the risk of inadvertently introducing sentinel values into data. For example, if a parsing function fails or encounters an error, it might return a value that is the same as the sentinel.
[Architecture and Design] Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. This is not a complete solution.
[Operation] Use OS-level preventative functionality. This is not a complete solution.

Related weaknesses

CWE-138 (childof)

Test & detect

Browse all common weaknesses, check related exploited CVEs, or map to ATT&CK techniques.

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