CWE

Deadlock

ID: 833		Date: (C)2012-05-14   (M)2022-10-10
Type: weakness		Status: INCOMPLETE
Abstraction Type: Base

Description

The software contains multiple threads or executable segments that are waiting for each other to release a necessary lock, resulting in deadlock.

Applicable Platforms
None

Common Consequences

Scope	Technical Impact	Notes
Availability	DoS: resource consumption (CPU) DoS: resource consumption (other) DoS: crash / exit / restart	Each thread of execution will "hang" and prevent tasks from completing. In some cases, CPU consumption may occur if a lock check occurs in a tight loop.

Detection Methods
None

Potential Mitigations
None

Relationships

Related CWE	Type	View	Chain
CWE-833 ChildOf CWE-853	Category	CWE-844

Demonstrative Examples
None

Observed Examples

1. CVE-2009-2857 : OS deadlock
2. CVE-2009-1961 : OS deadlock involving 3 separate functions
3. CVE-2009-2699 : deadlock in library
4. CVE-2009-4272 : deadlock triggered by packets that force collisions in a routing table
5. CVE-2002-1850 : read/write deadlock between web server and script
6. CVE-2004-0174 : web server deadlock involving multiple listening connections
7. CVE-2009-1388 : multiple simultaneous calls to the same function trigger deadlock.
8. CVE-2006-5158 : chain: other weakness leads to NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) or deadlock (CWE-833).
9. CVE-2006-4342 : deadlock when an operation is performed on a resource while it is being removed.
10. CVE-2006-2374 : Deadlock in device driver triggered by using file handle of a related device.
11. CVE-2006-2275 : Deadlock when large number of small messages cannot be processed quickly enough.
12. CVE-2005-3847 : OS kernel has deadlock triggered by a signal during a core dump.
13. CVE-2005-3106 : Race condition leads to deadlock.
14. CVE-2005-2456 : Chain: array index error (CWE-129) leads to deadlock (CWE-833)

For more examples, refer to CVE relations in the bottom box.

White Box Definitions
None

Black Box Definitions
None

Taxynomy Mappings

Taxynomy	Id	Name	Fit
CERT Java Secure Coding	LCK08-J	Ensure actively held locks are released on exceptional conditions

References:

1. Mark Dowd John McDonald Justin Schuh .The Art of Software Security Assessment 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. Section:'Chapter 13, "Synchronization Problems" / "Starvation and Deadlocks", Page 760'. Published on 2006.
2. Mark Dowd John McDonald Justin Schuh .The Art of Software Security Assessment 1st Edition. Addison Wesley. Section:'Chapter 13, "Starvation and Deadlocks", Page 760.'. Published on 2006.
3. Robert C. Seacord .Secure Coding in C and C++. Addison Wesley. Section:'Chapter 7, "Concurrency", section "Mutual Exclusion and Deadlock", Page 248.'. Published on 2006.