CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation

BaseDraftExploit Likelihood: Medium

The product does not check or incorrectly checks the revocation status of a certificate, which may cause it to use a certificate that has been compromised.

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Extended Description

An improper check for certificate revocation is a far more serious flaw than related certificate failures. This is because the use of any revoked certificate is almost certainly malicious. The most common reason for certificate revocation is compromise of the system in question, with the result that no legitimate servers will be using a revoked certificate, unless they are sorely out of sync.

Technical Details

Structure
Simple
Vulnerability Mapping
ALLOWED

Applicable To

Languages
Not Language-Specific
Platforms

Source-backed guidance

Additional facts reviewed against primary or authoritative security sources.

Verify controls for CWE-299 with SSDF evidence

Use NIST SSDF verification and vulnerability-response practices to detect CWE-299, Improper Check for Certificate Revocation, 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

Address Improper Check for Certificate Revocation during Architecture and Design

MITRE associates mitigation with Architecture and Design, and Implementation; documented detection approaches include Automated Static Analysis; recorded impacts include Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Other, and Read Application Data. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-299 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.

CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation — MITRE CWE

Triage CWE-299 against known exploitation evidence

Use CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-299, Improper Check for Certificate Revocation, 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-299

Apply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-299, Improper Check for Certificate Revocation. 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-299 with root-cause mapping checks

Apply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-299, Improper Check for Certificate Revocation. 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

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation?+

CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product does not check or incorrectly checks the revocation status of a certificate, which may cause it to use a certificate that has been compromised. An improper check for certificate revocation is a far more serious flaw than related certificate failures. This is because the use of any revoked certificate is almost certainly malicious. The most common reason for certificate revocation is compromise of the system in question, with the result that no legitimate servers will be using a revoked certificate, unless they are sorely out of sync.

What are the security consequences of Improper Check for Certificate Revocation?+

If exploited, CWE-299 (Improper Check for Certificate Revocation) it can compromise Access Control, Integrity, Other and Confidentiality, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Other and Read Application Data.

How do you prevent or mitigate Improper Check for Certificate Revocation?+

Recommended mitigations for CWE-299 include: Ensure that certificates are checked for revoked status. If certificate pinning is being used, ensure that all relevant properties of the certificate are fully validated before the certificate is pinned, including the revoked status.

Which programming languages are affected by Improper Check for Certificate Revocation?+

CWE-299 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 Improper Check for Certificate Revocation?+

MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-299, including CVE-2011-2014, CVE-2011-0199, CVE-2010-5185, CVE-2009-3046 and CVE-2009-0161. 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-299 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.

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