The product does not preserve permissions or incorrectly preserves permissions when copying, restoring, or sharing objects, which can cause them to have less restrictive permissions than intended.
View on MITRENo mitigation information available for this CWE.
No detection method information available for this CWE.
Incorrect ACLs used when restoring backups from directories that use symbolic links.
View DetailsPermissions on backup file are created with defaults, possibly less secure than original file.
View DetailsNo relationship information available for this CWE.
CWE-281: Improper Preservation of Permissions is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product does not preserve permissions or incorrectly preserves permissions when copying, restoring, or sharing objects, which can cause them to have less restrictive permissions than intended.
If exploited, CWE-281 (Improper Preservation of Permissions) it can compromise Confidentiality and Integrity, leading to outcomes such as Read Application Data and Modify Application Data.
CWE-281 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-281, including CVE-2002-2323, CVE-2001-1515, CVE-2005-1920 and CVE-2001-0195. 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-281 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.