The product throws or raises an overly broad exceptions that can hide important details and produce inappropriate responses to certain conditions.
View on MITREDeclaring a method to throw Exception or Throwable promotes generic error handling procedures that make it difficult for callers to perform proper error handling and error recovery. For example, Java's exception mechanism makes it easy for callers to anticipate what can go wrong and write code to handle each specific exceptional circumstance. Declaring that a method throws a generic form of exception defeats this system.
Throwing a generic exception can hide details about unexpected adversary activities by making it difficult to properly troubleshoot error conditions during execution.
No mitigation information available for this CWE.
No detection method information available for this CWE.
The following method throws three types of exceptions.
While it might seem tidier to write
public void doExchange() throws IOException, InvocationTargetException, SQLException {...}The following method throws three types of exceptions.
While it might seem tidier to write
public void doExchange() throws Exception {...}Early versions of C++ (C++98, C++03, C++11) included a feature known as Dynamic Exception Specification. This allowed functions to declare what type of exceptions it may throw. It is possible to declare a general class of exception to cover any derived exceptions that may be thrown.
In the example above, the code declares that myfunction() can throw an exception of type "std::exception" thus hiding details about the possible derived exceptions that could potentially be thrown.
int myfunction() throw(std::exception) {if (0) throw out_of_range();throw length_error();}Additional facts reviewed against primary or authoritative security sources.
Documented detection approaches include Automated Static Analysis; recorded impacts include Hide Activities, and Alter Execution Logic; related weaknesses include CWE-705, CWE-221, and CWE-703. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-397 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.
CWE-397: Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception — MITRE CWEUse NIST SSDF practices to make prevention of CWE-397, Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception, an explicit development outcome. Translate the CWE definition into security requirements and design constraints, choose safer implementation patterns and toolchain checks, and define acceptance evidence before release. Feed every confirmed occurrence back into the requirements, design review, and coding rules so the same root cause is removed across the product rather than patched in one location.
NIST SP 800-218 Secure Software Development Framework — National Institute of Standards and TechnologyUse CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-397, Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception, 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 AgencyApply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-397, Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception. 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 CWEApply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-397, Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception. 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 CWECWE-397: Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product throws or raises an overly broad exceptions that can hide important details and produce inappropriate responses to certain conditions. Declaring a method to throw Exception or Throwable promotes generic error handling procedures that make it difficult for callers to perform proper error handling and error recovery. For example, Java's exception mechanism makes it easy for callers to anticipate what can go wrong and write code to handle each specific exceptional circumstance. Declaring that a method throws a generic form of exception defeats this system.
If exploited, CWE-397 (Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception) it can compromise Non-Repudiation and Other, leading to outcomes such as Hide Activities and Alter Execution Logic.
CWE-397 commonly affects C++, C#, Java and Python. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.
A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-397 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.