CWE-710: Improper Adherence to Coding Standards

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The product does not follow certain coding rules for development, which can lead to resultant weaknesses or increase the severity of the associated vulnerabilities.

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Technical Details

Structure
Simple
Vulnerability Mapping
DISCOURAGED

Applicable To

Languages
Not Language-Specific
Platforms

Source-backed guidance

Additional facts reviewed against primary or authoritative security sources.

Verify controls for CWE-710 with SSDF evidence

Use NIST SSDF verification and vulnerability-response practices to detect CWE-710, Improper Adherence to Coding Standards, 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 Adherence to Coding Standards during Policy

MITRE associates mitigation with Policy, and Implementation; documented detection approaches include Automated Static Analysis; recorded impacts include Other. Use these source-defined anchors to turn CWE-710 into implementation, review, and verification checks for the affected component.

CWE-710: Improper Adherence to Coding Standards — MITRE CWE

Triage CWE-710 against known exploitation evidence

Use CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog to test whether a vulnerability mapped to CWE-710, Improper Adherence to Coding Standards, 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-710

Apply MITRE's full root-cause mapping guidance when using CWE-710, Improper Adherence to Coding Standards. 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-710 with root-cause mapping checks

Apply MITRE's root-cause mapping quick tips to CWE-710, Improper Adherence to Coding Standards. 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-710: Improper Adherence to Coding Standards?+

CWE-710: Improper Adherence to Coding Standards is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product does not follow certain coding rules for development, which can lead to resultant weaknesses or increase the severity of the associated vulnerabilities.

What are the security consequences of Improper Adherence to Coding Standards?+

If exploited, CWE-710 (Improper Adherence to Coding Standards) it can compromise Other, leading to outcomes such as Other.

How do you prevent or mitigate Improper Adherence to Coding Standards?+

Recommended mitigations for CWE-710 include: Select and require coding standards. Ensure that they include security concerns. Closely follow coding standards, possibly enforcing them upon checkin of the code into a source control system or with periodic analyses.

How is Improper Adherence to Coding Standards detected?+

CWE-710 can be detected using Automated Static Analysis. Combining automated tooling with manual review typically yields the best coverage.

Which programming languages are affected by Improper Adherence to Coding Standards?+

CWE-710 commonly affects Not Language-Specific. 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-710 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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