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Home > CWE List > CWE-1071: Empty Code Block (4.18)
ID
CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-1071: Empty Code Block

Weakness ID: 1071
Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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Description
The source code contains a block that does not contain any code, i.e., the block is empty.
Extended Description

Empty code blocks can occur in the bodies of conditionals, function or method definitions, exception handlers, etc. While an empty code block might be intentional, it might also indicate incomplete implementation, accidental code deletion, unexpected macro expansion, etc. For some programming languages and constructs, an empty block might be allowed by the syntax, but the lack of any behavior within the block might violate a convention or API in such a way that it is an error.

Common Consequences
Section HelpThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
Impact Details

Reduce Reliability

Scope: Other

Relationships
Section Help This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.
Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (View-1000)
Nature Type ID Name
ChildOf Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. 1164 Irrelevant Code
ParentOf Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 585 Empty Synchronized Block
ParentOf Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 1069 Empty Exception Block
Relevant to the view "Software Development" (View-699)
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf Category Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1006 Bad Coding Practices
Demonstrative Examples

Example 1


In the following Java example, the code catches an ArithmeticException.

(bad code)
Example Language: Java
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 1;
int b = 0;
int c = 0;

try {
c = a / b;

} catch(ArithmeticException ae) {
}

}

}

Since the exception block is empty, no action is taken.

In the code below the exception has been logged and the bad execution has been handled in the desired way allowing the program to continue in an expected way.

(good code)
Example Language: Java
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 1;
int b = 0;
int c = 0;

try {
c = a / b;

} catch(ArithmeticException ae) {
log.error("Divided by zero detected, setting to -1.");
c = -1;

}

}

}


Example 2


The following code attempts to synchronize on an object, but does not execute anything in the synchronized block. This does not actually accomplish anything and may be a sign that a programmer is wrestling with synchronization but has not yet achieved the result they intend.

(bad code)
Example Language: Java
synchronized(this) { }

Instead, in a correct usage, the synchronized statement should contain procedures that access or modify data that is exposed to multiple threads. For example, consider a scenario in which several threads are accessing student records at the same time. The method which sets the student ID to a new value will need to make sure that nobody else is accessing this data at the same time and will require synchronization.

(good code)
Example Language: Java
public void setID(int ID){
synchronized(this){
this.ID = ID;
}
}


Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality Description
Indirect
(where the weakness is a quality issue that might indirectly make it easier to introduce security-relevant weaknesses or make them more difficult to detect)
Memberships
Section HelpThis MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1412 Comprehensive Categorization: Poor Coding Practices
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Usage ALLOWED
(this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
Reason Acceptable-Use

Rationale

This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Comments

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
Content History
Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2019年01月02日
(CWE 3.2, 2019年01月03日) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
Modifications
Modification Date Modifier Organization
2025年04月03日
(CWE 4.17, 2025年04月03日) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples
2024年02月29日
(CWE 4.14, 2024年02月29日) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples
2023年06月29日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023年04月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2020年02月24日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships, Type
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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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