What is CWE-250: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges?+
CWE-250: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product performs an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required, which creates new weaknesses or amplifies the consequences of other weaknesses.
What are the security consequences of Execution with Unnecessary Privileges?+
If exploited, CWE-250 (Execution with Unnecessary Privileges) it can compromise Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability and Access Control, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, Read Application Data and DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart.
How do you prevent or mitigate Execution with Unnecessary Privileges?+
Recommended mitigations for CWE-250 include: Perform extensive input validation for any privileged code that must be exposed to the user and reject anything that does not fit your strict requirements. If circumstances force you to run with extra privileges, then determine the minimum access level necessary. First identify the different permissions that the software and its users will need to perform their actions, such as file read and write permissions, network socket permissions, and so forth. Then explicitly allow those actions while denying all else [REF-76]. Perform extensive input validation and canonicalization to minimize the chances of introducing a separate vulnerability. This mitigation is much more prone to error than dropping the privileges in the first place.
How is Execution with Unnecessary Privileges detected?+
CWE-250 can be detected using Manual Analysis, Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode, Manual Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode, Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation, Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation and Manual Static Analysis - Source Code. Combining automated tooling with manual review typically yields the best coverage.
Which programming languages are affected by Execution with Unnecessary Privileges?+
CWE-250 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 Execution with Unnecessary Privileges?+
MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-250, including CVE-2007-4217, CVE-2008-1877, CVE-2007-5159, CVE-2008-4638 and CVE-2008-0162. 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-250 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.