When the product encounters an error condition or failure, its design requires it to fall back to a state that is less secure than other options that are available, such as selecting the weakest encryption algorithm or using the most permissive access control restrictions.
View on MITREBy entering a less secure state, the product inherits the weaknesses associated with that state, making it easier to compromise. At the least, it causes administrators to have a false sense of security. This weakness typically occurs as a result of wanting to "fail functional" to minimize administration and support costs, instead of "failing safe."
Intended access restrictions can be bypassed, which is often contradictory to what the product's administrator expects.
Subdivide and allocate resources and components so that a failure in one part does not affect the entire product.
No detection method information available for this CWE.
The failure of connection attempts in a web browser resets DNS pin restrictions. An attacker can then bypass the same origin policy by rebinding a domain name to a different IP address. This was an attempt to "fail functional."
View DetailsIncorrect prioritization leads to the selection of a weaker cipher. Although it is not known whether this issue occurred in implementation or design, it is feasible that a poorly designed algorithm could be a factor.
View DetailsNo relationship information available for this CWE.
CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. When the product encounters an error condition or failure, its design requires it to fall back to a state that is less secure than other options that are available, such as selecting the weakest encryption algorithm or using the most permissive access control restrictions. By entering a less secure state, the product inherits the weaknesses associated with that state, making it easier to compromise. At the least, it causes administrators to have a false sense of security. This weakness typically occurs as a result of wanting to "fail functional" to minimize administration and support costs, instead of "failing safe."
If exploited, CWE-636 (Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open')) it can compromise Access Control, leading to outcomes such as Bypass Protection Mechanism.
Recommended mitigations for CWE-636 include: Subdivide and allocate resources and components so that a failure in one part does not affect the entire product.
CWE-636 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-636, including CVE-2007-5277 and CVE-2006-4407. 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-636 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.