CWE-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision

Source-backed guidance

Additional facts reviewed against primary or authoritative security sources.

Verify controls for CWE-654 with SSDF evidence

Use NIST SSDF verification and vulnerability-response practices to detect CWE-654, Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision, 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 Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision during Architecture and Design

MITRE associates mitigation with Architecture and Design; recorded impacts include Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, and Hide Activities; the entry maps to CAPEC-16, CAPEC-274, CAPEC-49, and CAPEC-55. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-654 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.

CWE-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision — MITRE CWE

Triage CWE-654 against known exploitation evidence

Use CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-654, Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision, 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-654

Apply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-654, Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision. 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-654 with root-cause mapping checks

Apply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-654, Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision. 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-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision?+

CWE-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. A protection mechanism relies exclusively, or to a large extent, on the evaluation of a single condition or the integrity of a single object or entity in order to make a decision about granting access to restricted resources or functionality.

What are the security consequences of Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision?+

If exploited, CWE-654 (Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision) it can compromise Access Control and Non-Repudiation, leading to outcomes such as Gain Privileges or Assume Identity and Hide Activities.

How do you prevent or mitigate Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision?+

Recommended mitigations for CWE-654 include: Use multiple simultaneous checks before granting access to critical operations or granting critical privileges. A weaker but helpful mitigation is to use several successive checks (multiple layers of security). Use redundant access rules on different choke points (e.g., firewalls).

Which programming languages are affected by Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision?+

CWE-654 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 Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision?+

MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-654, including CVE-2022-35248. 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-654 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-654: Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision

Technical Details

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Code Examples & CVEs

Observed CVE Examples (1)

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