The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when a value is not defined or supported for the associated parameter, field, or argument name.
View on MITRENo mitigation information available for this CWE.
No detection method information available for this CWE.
In this example, an address parameter is read and trimmed of whitespace.
If the value of the address parameter is null (undefined), the servlet will throw a NullPointerException when the trim() is attempted.
CWE-232: Improper Handling of Undefined Values is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when a value is not defined or supported for the associated parameter, field, or argument name.
If exploited, CWE-232 (Improper Handling of Undefined Values) it can compromise Integrity, leading to outcomes such as Unexpected State.
CWE-232 commonly affects Not Language-Specific. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.
MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-232, including CVE-2000-1003. You can look up the full details of each CVE, including CVSS scores and remediation guidance, on our CVE Lookup tool.
A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-232 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.