CWE-685 Variante Brouillon

Function Call With Incorrect Number of Arguments

This weakness occurs when a program calls a function, method, or subroutine but provides the wrong number of arguments—either too many or too few. This mismatch can cause the program to behave…

Définition

What is CWE-685?

This weakness occurs when a program calls a function, method, or subroutine but provides the wrong number of arguments—either too many or too few. This mismatch can cause the program to behave unpredictably, access incorrect memory, or crash, creating a security vulnerability.

When a function is called with an incorrect argument count, the underlying system mechanics break down. The calling code and the function have mismatched expectations about how data is arranged on the stack or in registers. This can lead to the function reading invalid values, interpreting data incorrectly (like treating a string as a pointer), or corrupting adjacent memory. The immediate result is often undefined behavior, which can manifest as crashes, data corruption, or unexpected program flow. From a security perspective, this flaw is a gateway for more severe exploits. An attacker might manipulate this mismatch to leak sensitive data from memory, bypass security checks, or execute arbitrary code. It's commonly seen in languages that don't enforce strict type checking at compile-time (like C or C++), in cases of incorrect function pointer usage, or when interfacing with external libraries. Developers must ensure function signatures are always correctly matched, especially when using dynamic linking or callback mechanisms.

Impact réel

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-685

Aucune référence CVE publique n'est liée à ce CWE dans le catalogue MITRE pour le moment.

Comment les attaquants l'exploitent

Parcours de l'attaquant étape par étape

1
Identifier un chemin de code qui traite des entrées non fiables sans validation.
2
Élaborer une charge utile qui exploite le comportement non sécurisé — injection, traversal, débordement ou abus de logique.
3
Délivrer la charge utile via une requête normale et observer la réaction de l'application.
4
Itérer jusqu'à ce que la réponse divulgue des données, exécute le code de l'attaquant ou élève les privilèges.

Exemple de code vulnérable

Vulnerable pseudo

MITRE n'a pas publié d'exemple de code pour ce CWE. Le motif ci-dessous est illustratif — voir Ressources pour les références canoniques.

Vulnérable pseudo

// Example pattern — see MITRE for the canonical references.
function handleRequest(input) {
  // Untrusted input flows directly into the sensitive sink.
  return executeUnsafe(input);
}

Exemple de code sécurisé

Secure pseudo

Sécurisé 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.

Liste de contrôle de prévention

How to prevent CWE-685

Testing Because this function call often produces incorrect behavior it will usually be detected during testing or normal operation of the product. During testing exercise all possible control paths will typically expose this weakness except in rare cases when the incorrect function call accidentally produces the correct results or if the provided argument type is very similar to the expected argument type.

Signaux de détection

How to detect CWE-685

Other

While this weakness might be caught by the compiler in some languages, it can occur more frequently in cases in which the called function accepts variable numbers of arguments, such as format strings in C. It also can occur in languages or environments that do not require that functions always be called with the correct number of arguments, such as Perl.

CWE-685

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Questions fréquentes

Frequently asked questions

Qu'est-ce que CWE-685 ?

Quelle est la gravité de CWE-685 ?

MITRE n'a pas publié de note de probabilité d'exploitation pour cette faiblesse. Traitez-la comme un impact moyen jusqu'à ce que votre modèle de menace prouve le contraire.

Quels langages ou plateformes sont affectés par CWE-685 ?

MITRE lists the following affected platforms: C, Perl.

Comment puis-je prévenir CWE-685 ?

Because this function call often produces incorrect behavior it will usually be detected during testing or normal operation of the product. During testing exercise all possible control paths will typically expose this weakness except in rare cases when the incorrect function call accidentally produces the correct results or if the provided argument type is very similar to the expected argument type.

Comment Plexicus détecte et corrige CWE-685 ?

Le moteur SAST de Plexicus reconnaît la signature de flux de données de CWE-685 à chaque commit. Lorsqu'une correspondance est trouvée, notre agent Codex Remedium ouvre une PR de correction avec le code corrigé, les tests et un résumé d'une ligne pour le relecteur.

Où puis-je en savoir plus sur CWE-685 ?

MITRE publie la définition canonique à https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/685.html. Vous pouvez également consulter la documentation OWASP et NIST pour des conseils adjacents.

Faiblesses associées

Weaknesses related to CWE-685

CWE-628 Parent

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Function Call With Incorrect Number of Arguments

What is CWE-685?

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-685

Parcours de l'attaquant étape par étape

Vulnerable pseudo

Secure pseudo

How to prevent CWE-685

How to detect CWE-685

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

Frequently asked questions

Weaknesses related to CWE-685

Function Call with Incorrectly Specified Arguments

Function Call With Incorrect Order of Arguments

Function Call With Incorrect Argument Type

Function Call With Incorrectly Specified Argument Value

Function Call With Incorrect Variable or Reference as Argument

Further reading

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Sample evidence handover

Server-Side Request Forgery in `webhooks/receiver`