What is CWE-1329: Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable?+
CWE-1329: Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product contains a component that cannot be updated or patched in order to remove vulnerabilities or significant bugs. If the component is discovered to contain a vulnerability or critical bug, but the issue cannot be fixed using an update or patch, then the product's owner will not be able to protect against the issue. The only option might be replacement of the product, which could be too financially or operationally expensive for the product owner. As a result, the inability to patch or update can leave the product open to attacker exploitation or critical operation failures. This weakness can be especially difficult to manage when using ROM, firmware, or similar components that traditionally have had limited or no update capabilities. In industries such as healthcare, "legacy" devices can be operated for decades. As a US task force report [REF-1197] notes, "the inability to update or replace equipment has both large and small health care delivery organizations struggle with numerous unsupported legacy systems that cannot easily be replaced (hardware, software, and operating systems) with large numbers of vulnerabilities and few modern countermeasures." While hardware can be prone to this weakness, software systems can also be affected, such as when a third-party driver or library is no longer actively maintained or supported but is still critical for the required functionality.
What are the security consequences of Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable?+
If exploited, CWE-1329 (Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable) it can compromise Confidentiality, Integrity, Access Control, Authentication, Authorization and Other, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Bypass Protection Mechanism, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, Quality Degradation and Reduce Maintainability.
How do you prevent or mitigate Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable?+
Recommended mitigations for CWE-1329 include: Specify requirements that each component should be updateable, including ROM, firmware, etc. Design the product to allow for updating of its components. Include the external infrastructure that might be necessary to support updates, such as distribution servers. With hardware, support patches that can be programmed in-field or during manufacturing through hardware fuses. This feature can be used for limited patching of devices after shipping, or for the next batch of silicon devices manufactured, without changing the full device ROM.
How is Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable detected?+
CWE-1329 can be detected using Architecture or Design Review. Combining automated tooling with manual review typically yields the best coverage.
Which programming languages are affected by Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable?+
CWE-1329 commonly affects Not Language-Specific. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.
What are real-world examples of Reliance on Component That is Not Updateable?+
MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-1329, including CVE-2022-34381 and CVE-2020-9054. You can look up the full details of each CVE, including CVSS scores and remediation guidance, on our CVE Lookup tool.
What is the difference between a CWE and a CVE?+
A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-1329 describes a category of software weakness — the underlying flaw type. A CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) identifies a specific, real-world vulnerability in a particular product. In short, a CWE is the kind of mistake, and a CVE is an instance of that mistake being found in software.