CWE-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation

Source-backed guidance

Additional facts reviewed against primary or authoritative security sources.

Verify controls for CWE-556 with SSDF evidence

Use NIST SSDF verification and vulnerability-response practices to detect CWE-556, ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation, 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 ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation during Architecture and Design

MITRE associates mitigation with Architecture and Design; recorded impacts include Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; related weaknesses include CWE-266. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-556 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.

CWE-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation — MITRE CWE

Triage CWE-556 against known exploitation evidence

Use CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-556, ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation, 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-556

Apply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-556, ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation. 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-556 with root-cause mapping checks

Apply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-556, ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation. 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-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation?+

CWE-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. Configuring an ASP.NET application to run with impersonated credentials may give the application unnecessary privileges. The use of impersonated credentials allows an ASP.NET application to run with either the privileges of the client on whose behalf it is executing or with arbitrary privileges granted in its configuration.

What are the security consequences of ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation?+

If exploited, CWE-556 (ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation) it can compromise Access Control, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity.

How do you prevent or mitigate ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation?+

Recommended mitigations for CWE-556 include: Use the least privilege principle.

Which programming languages are affected by ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation?+

CWE-556 commonly affects ASP.NET. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.

What is the difference between a CWE and a CVE?+

A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-556 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-556: ASP.NET Misconfiguration: Use of Identity Impersonation

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