The software does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor. Access control involves the use of several protection mechanisms such as authentication (proving the identity of an actor) authorization (ensuring that a given actor can access a resource), and accountability (tracking of activities that were performed). When any mechanism is not applied or otherwise fails, attackers can compromise the security of the software by gaining privileges, reading sensitive information, executing commands, evading detection, etc. There are two distinct behaviors that can introduce access control weaknesses: Specification: incorrect privileges, permissions, ownership, etc. are explicitly specified for either the user or the resource (for example, setting a password file to be world-writable, or giving administrator capabilities to a guest user). This action could be performed by the program or the administrator. Enforcement: the mechanism contains errors that prevent it from properly enforcing the specified access control requirements (e.g., allowing the user to specify their own privileges, or allowing a syntactically-incorrect ACL to produce insecure settings). This problem occurs within the program itself, in that it does not actually enforce the intended security policy that the administrator specifies. 1000 Weakness ChildOf 693 1000 Weakness ChildOf 664 699 Category ChildOf 264 631 Category ChildOf 632 711 Category ChildOf 723 888 Category ChildOf 899 This item needs more work. Possible sub-categories include: * Trusted group includes undesired entities (partially covered by CWE-286) * Group can perform undesired actions * ACL parse error does not fail closed Authorization The terms "access control" and "authorization" are often used interchangeably, although many people have distinct definitions. The CWE usage of "access control" is intended as a general term for the various mechanisms that restrict which users can access which resources, and "authorization" is more narrowly defined. It is unlikely that there will be community consensus on the use of these terms. Architecture and Design Implementation Operation Other Varies by context Architecture and Design Operation Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software. Architecture and Design Separation of Privilege Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design and that the compartmentalization serves to allow for and further reinforce privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide when it is appropriate to use and to drop system privileges. File/Directory M. Howard D. LeBlanc Writing Secure Code Chapter 6, "Determining Appropriate Access Control" Page 171 2nd Edition Microsoft 2002 Michael Howard David LeBlanc John Viega 24 Deadly Sins of Software Security "Sin 17: Failure to Protect Stored Data." Page 253 McGraw-Hill 2010 Access Control List (ACL) errors Insufficient Authorization 2 19 PLOVER Eric Dalci Cigital 2008-07-01 updated Time_of_Introduction CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-09-08 updated Alternate_Terms, Background_Details, Description, Maintenance_Notes, Name, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-10-14 updated Relationships CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-03-10 updated Relationships CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-07-27 updated Alternate_Terms, Relationships CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-12-28 updated Potential_Mitigations CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-02-16 updated References, Taxonomy_Mappings CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-06-21 updated Potential_Mitigations CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-03-24 Changed name and description; clarified difference between "access control" and "authorization." CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-03-29 updated Alternate_Terms, Background_Details, Description, Maintenance_Notes, Name, Relationships CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-01 updated Common_Consequences CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-27 updated Common_Consequences CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-05-11 updated References, Relationships CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-10-30 updated Potential_Mitigations Access Control Issues Access Control (Authorization) Issues