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CWE-786Access of Memory Location Before Start of Buffer

Category: memory

Description

The product reads or writes to a buffer using an index or pointer that references a memory location prior to the beginning of the buffer. This typically occurs when a pointer or its index is decremented to a position before the buffer, when pointer arithmetic results in a position before the beginning of the valid memory location, or when a negative index is used.

Common consequences· 3

  • Confidentiality — Read Memory
    For an out-of-bounds read, the attacker may have access to sensitive information. If the sensitive information contains system details, such as the current buffer's position in memory, this knowledge can be used to craft further attacks, possibly with more severe consequences.
  • Integrity / Availability — Modify Memory, DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
    Out of bounds memory access will very likely result in the corruption of relevant memory, and perhaps instructions, possibly leading to a crash.
  • Integrity — Modify Memory, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
    If the corrupted memory can be effectively controlled, it may be possible to execute arbitrary code. If the corrupted memory is data rather than instructions, the system will continue to function with improper changes, possibly in violation of an implicit or explicit policy.

References

  1. https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/786.html

Related by meaning· 6

Nearest entities by semantic similarity across the cs-graph corpus.

CWE
Access of Memory Location After End of Buffer
CWE
Buffer Under-read
CWE
Buffer Over-read
CWE
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CWE
Buffer Underwrite ('Buffer Underflow')
CWE
Buffer Access with Incorrect Length Value
Sourced from MITRE CWE 4.20. Curated for EU compliance use cases by Adam Lundqvist, Founder at SQUR.