CWE-863: CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization

CWE-863: CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. Description

Yes. CWE-863 ranked #17 in the CWE Top 25 for 2024, associated with 969 CVEs that year. The CWE Top 25 highlights the most common and impactful software weaknesses based on real-world vulnerability data.

If exploited, CWE-863 (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) it can compromise Read Application Data, Read Files or Directories, Modify Application Data, Modify Files or Directories, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity and Bypass Protection Mechanism, leading to outcomes such as Scope: Confidentiality An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to read sensitive data, either by reading the data directly from a data store that is not correctly restricted, or by accessing insufficiently-protected, privileged functionality to read the data., Scope: Integrity An attacker could bypass intended access restrictions to modify sensitive data and either by writing the data directly to a data store that is not correctly restricted.

Recommended mitigations for CWE-863 include: Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [ REF-229 ] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role. Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor [ REF-7 ]. Strategy: Libraries or Frameworks Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [ REF-233 ] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [ REF-45 ].

CWE-863 commonly affects Languages. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.

A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-863 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.