Assignment of a Fixed Address to a Pointer
Draft Variant
Structure: Simple
Description
The product sets a pointer to a specific address other than NULL or 0.
Using a fixed address is not portable, because that address will probably not be valid in all environments or platforms.
Common Consequences 3
Scope: IntegrityConfidentialityAvailability
Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
If one executes code at a known location, an attacker might be able to inject code there beforehand.
Scope: Availability
Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or RestartReduce MaintainabilityReduce Reliability
If the code is ported to another platform or environment, the pointer is likely to be invalid and cause a crash.
Scope: ConfidentialityIntegrity
Impact: Read MemoryModify Memory
The data at a known pointer location can be easily read or influenced by an attacker.
Potential Mitigations 1
Phase: Implementation
Never set a pointer to a fixed address.
Demonstrative Examples 1
ID : DX-192
This code assumes a particular function will always be found at a particular address. It assigns a pointer to that address and calls the function.Code Example:
Bad
C
c// Here we can inject code to execute.*
The same function may not always be found at the same memory address. This could lead to a crash, or an attacker may alter the memory at the expected address, leading to arbitrary code execution.
Applicable Platforms
Languages:
C : UndeterminedC++ : UndeterminedC# : UndeterminedAssembly : Undetermined
Modes of Introduction
Implementation
Functional Areas
- Memory Management
Affected Resources
- Memory
Related Weaknesses
Taxonomy Mapping
- CERT C Secure Coding
- Software Fault Patterns