CWE-1248 Base Incomplete

Semiconductor Defects in Hardware Logic with Security-Sensitive Implications

A security-critical hardware component contains physical flaws in its semiconductor material, which can cause it to malfunction and undermine its security features.

Definition

What is CWE-1248?

A security-critical hardware component contains physical flaws in its semiconductor material, which can cause it to malfunction and undermine its security features.

Semiconductor defects are physical imperfections in a chip that can arise from manufacturing errors, material aging, or operation under extreme stress. Common causes include failures in the packaging, wire bonds, metal layers (like corrosion or electromigration), or the silicon oxide layer itself. These defects typically force specific internal signals, inputs, or outputs to become permanently stuck at a logical high (1) or low (0) state, preventing them from switching correctly. When these stuck-at faults occur within a hardware module responsible for security functions—such as encryption, secure boot, or key storage—the module can no longer operate as designed. This failure can directly compromise the device's security objectives, allowing for bypasses, data leakage, or a complete loss of security guarantees. Understanding these failure modes is crucial for designing robust hardware with appropriate safeguards and testing.

Auswirkungen in der Praxis

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-1248

Bisher sind in MITREs Katalog keine öffentlichen CVE-Referenzen mit dieser CWE verknüpft.

Wie Angreifer es ausnutzen

Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt

1
Identifiziere einen Codepfad, der nicht vertrauenswürdige Eingaben ohne Validierung verarbeitet.
2
Erzeuge eine Payload, die das unsichere Verhalten auslöst — Injection, Traversal, Overflow oder Logik-Missbrauch.
3
Liefere die Payload über einen normalen Request aus und beobachte die Reaktion der Anwendung.
4
Iteriere, bis die Antwort Daten preisgibt, Angreifer-Code ausführt oder Berechtigungen eskaliert.

Verwundbares Codebeispiel

Vulnerable Other

The network-on-chip implements a firewall for access control to peripherals from all IP cores capable of mastering transactions.

Verwundbar Other

A manufacturing defect in this logic manifests itself as a logical fault, which always sets the output of the filter to "allow" access.

Sicheres Codebeispiel

Secure pseudo

Sicher pseudo

// Validate, sanitize, or use a safe API before reaching the sink.
function handleRequest(input) {
  const safe = validateAndEscape(input);
  return executeWithGuards(safe);
}

What changed: the unsafe sink is replaced (or the input is validated/escaped) so the same payload no longer triggers the weakness.

Präventions-Checkliste

How to prevent CWE-1248

Testing While semiconductor-manufacturing companies implement several mechanisms to continuously improve the semiconductor manufacturing process to ensure reduction of defects, some defects can only be fixed after manufacturing. Post-manufacturing testing of silicon die is critical. Fault models such as stuck-at-0 or stuck-at-1 must be used to develop post-manufacturing test cases and achieve good coverage. Once the silicon packaging is done, extensive post-silicon testing must be performed to ensure that hardware logic implementing security functionalities is defect-free.
Operation Operating the hardware outside device specification, such as at extremely high temperatures, voltage, etc., accelerates semiconductor degradation and results in defects. When these defects manifest as faults in security-critical, hardware modules, it results in compromise of security guarantees. Thus, operating the device within the specification is important.

Erkennungssignale

How to detect CWE-1248

SAST High

Führe statische Analyse (SAST) auf der Codebasis aus und suche im Datenfluss nach dem unsicheren Muster.

DAST Moderate

Führe dynamische Application-Security-Tests gegen den Live-Endpoint aus.

Runtime Moderate

Beobachte Runtime-Logs auf ungewöhnliche Exception-Traces, fehlerhafte Eingaben oder Versuche, Autorisierung zu umgehen.

Code review Moderate

Code Review: Markiere jeden neuen Code, der Eingaben von dieser Oberfläche ohne validierte Framework-Helper verarbeitet.

CWE-1248

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Häufig gestellte Fragen

Frequently asked questions

Was ist CWE-1248?

A security-critical hardware component contains physical flaws in its semiconductor material, which can cause it to malfunction and undermine its security features.

Wie gravierend ist CWE-1248?

MITRE hat für diese Schwachstelle keine Exploit-Wahrscheinlichkeit veröffentlicht. Behandle sie als mittlere Auswirkung, bis dein Threat Model anderes belegt.

Welche Sprachen oder Plattformen sind von CWE-1248 betroffen?

MITRE lists the following affected platforms: Not OS-Specific, Not Architecture-Specific, Not Technology-Specific.

Wie kann ich CWE-1248 verhindern?

While semiconductor-manufacturing companies implement several mechanisms to continuously improve the semiconductor manufacturing process to ensure reduction of defects, some defects can only be fixed after manufacturing. Post-manufacturing testing of silicon die is critical. Fault models such as stuck-at-0 or stuck-at-1 must be used to develop post-manufacturing test cases and achieve good coverage. Once the silicon packaging is done, extensive post-silicon testing must be performed to ensure…

Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-1248?

Die SAST-Engine von Plexicus erkennt die Datenfluss-Signatur von CWE-1248 bei jedem Commit. Bei einem Treffer öffnet unser Codex-Remedium-Agent einen Fix-PR mit korrigiertem Code, Tests und einer einzeiligen Zusammenfassung für den Reviewer.

Wo erfahre ich mehr über CWE-1248?

MITRE veröffentlicht die kanonische Definition unter https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/1248.html. Für ergänzende Hinweise kannst du auch die OWASP- und NIST-Dokumentation heranziehen.

Verwandte Schwachstellen

Weaknesses related to CWE-1248

CWE-693 Parent

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Semiconductor Defects in Hardware Logic with Security-Sensitive Implications

What is CWE-1248?

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-1248

Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt

Vulnerable Other

Secure pseudo

How to prevent CWE-1248

How to detect CWE-1248

Don't catalog this weakness. Prove it's reachable.

Frequently asked questions

Weaknesses related to CWE-1248

Protection Mechanism Failure

Inadequate Detection or Handling of Adversarial Input Perturbations in Automated Recognition Mechanism

Incorrect Selection of Fuse Values

Product Released in Non-Release Configuration

Missing Protection Against Hardware Reverse Engineering Using Integrated Circuit (IC) Imaging Techniques

Public Key Re-Use for Signing both Debug and Production Code

Missing Support for Security Features in On-chip Fabrics or Buses

Improper Protection against Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EM-FI)

Missing Immutable Root of Trust in Hardware

Further reading

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Sample evidence handover

Server-Side Request Forgery in `webhooks/receiver`