What is CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment?

CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

What are the security consequences of Incorrect Privilege Assignment?

If exploited, CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment) it can compromise Access Control, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity.

Which programming languages are affected by Incorrect Privilege Assignment?

CWE-266 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 Incorrect Privilege Assignment?

MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-266, including CVE-1999-1193, CVE-2005-2741, CVE-2005-2496 and CVE-2004-0274. 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-266 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.

CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

Verify controls for CWE-266 with SSDF evidence

Use NIST SSDF verification and vulnerability-response practices to detect CWE-266, Incorrect Privilege Assignment, throughout the product lifecycle. Derive review questions, static or dynamic checks, and negative tests from the CWE's causal behavior; define the components and lifecycle stages each check covers; and retain findings with enough evidence to distinguish the root cause from symptoms and impacts. Track escapes and false negatives, then improve the verification plan after every confirmed occurrence.

NIST SP 800-218 Secure Software Development Framework — National Institute of Standards and Technology

Apply Environment Hardening controls for Incorrect Privilege Assignment

MITRE associates mitigation with Architecture and Design, and Operation; the listed strategies include Environment Hardening; recorded impacts include Gain Privileges or Assume Identity. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-266 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.

CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment — MITRE CWE

Triage CWE-266 against known exploitation evidence

Use CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-266, Incorrect Privilege Assignment, has evidence of exploitation in the wild. Confirm the CVE-to-CWE root-cause mapping independently before attaching the example, then capture the affected product, required action, and remediation deadline. A missing KEV match is not evidence that the weakness is unexploited, and a KEV entry must not be generalized to every occurrence of this CWE.

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog — Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Apply precise root-cause mapping to CWE-266

Apply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-266, Incorrect Privilege Assignment. Separate weakness language from attacker prerequisites and technical impact, check the entry's abstraction and vulnerability-mapping notes, and prefer the most specific Base or Variant supported by the evidence. Record the rejected alternatives and require an independent review before the mapping is used for remediation trends or program metrics.

CVE to CWE Root Cause Mapping Guidance — MITRE CWE

Validate CWE-266 with root-cause mapping checks

Apply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-266, Incorrect Privilege Assignment. Confirm the finding describes the causal weakness rather than an impact or attack pattern, compare the abstraction and mapping notes with plausible alternatives, and have a second reviewer challenge the selection. Preserve the evidence and reasoning so recurring defects can be measured against one consistent identifier.

CVE to CWE Root Cause Mapping Quick Tips — MITRE CWE

CWE-266: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

Technical Details

Applicable To

Security Consequences

Scope

Impact

Mitigation Strategies

Detection Methods

Code Examples & CVEs

Demonstrative Examples

Observed CVE Examples (4)

CWE Relationships

Parent Weaknesses

Source-backed guidance

Verify controls for CWE-266 with SSDF evidence

Apply Environment Hardening controls for Incorrect Privilege Assignment

Triage CWE-266 against known exploitation evidence

Apply precise root-cause mapping to CWE-266

Validate CWE-266 with root-cause mapping checks

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