CWE-354

Base Abstraction Level
Pillar — Highest-level weakness category
Class — Abstract, language-independent
Base — Specific enough to detect
Variant — Tied to specific technology
Compound — Requires multiple weaknesses Draft MITRE CWE Status
Stable — Fully reviewed and complete
Draft — Under development, may change
Incomplete — Partially defined by MITRE
Deprecated — No longer recommended
Obsolete — Replaced by another CWE Exploit: Medium
Improper Validation of Integrity Check Value

Description

The product does not validate or incorrectly validates the integrity check values or "checksums" of a message. This may prevent it from detecting if the data has been modified or corrupted in transmission.

Improper validation of checksums before use results in an unnecessary risk that can easily be mitigated. The protocol specification describes the algorithm used for calculating the checksum. It is then a simple matter of implementing the calculation and verifying that the calculated checksum and the received checksum match. Improper verification of the calculated checksum and the received checksum can lead to far greater consequences.

Top Monitored CVEs

CVE-2024-3596
CRITICAL
9.0 14.9%
2024-07-09

Consequences

Integrity, Other — Modify Application Data, Other

Integrity checks usually use a secret key that helps authenticate the data origin. Skipping integrity checking generally opens up the possibility that new data from an invalid source can be injected.

Integrity, Other — Other

Data that is parsed and used may be corrupted.

Non-Repudiation, Other — Hide Activities, Other

Without a checksum check, it is impossible to determine if any changes have been made to the data after it was sent.

Mitigations

Phase: Implementation

Ensure that the checksums present in messages are properly checked in accordance with the protocol specification before they are parsed and used.