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Home > CWE List > CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation (4.18)
ID
CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-299: Improper Check for Certificate Revocation

Weakness ID: 299
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 product does not check or incorrectly checks the revocation status of a certificate, which may cause it to use a certificate that has been compromised.
Extended Description
An improper check for certificate revocation is a far more serious flaw than related certificate failures. This is because the use of any revoked certificate is almost certainly malicious. The most common reason for certificate revocation is compromise of the system in question, with the result that no legitimate servers will be using a revoked certificate, unless they are sorely out of sync.
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

Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

Scope: Access Control

Trust may be assigned to an entity who is not who it claims to be.

Other

Scope: Integrity, Other

Data from an untrusted (and possibly malicious) source may be integrated.

Read Application Data

Scope: Confidentiality

Data may be disclosed to an entity impersonating a trusted entity, resulting in information disclosure.
Potential Mitigations
Phase(s) Mitigation

Architecture and Design
Ensure that certificates are checked for revoked status.

Implementation
If certificate pinning is being used, ensure that all relevant properties of the certificate are fully validated before the certificate is pinned, including the revoked status.
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 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. 295 Improper Certificate Validation
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. 404 Improper Resource Shutdown or Release
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. 370 Missing Check for Certificate Revocation after Initial Check
Relevant to the view "Architectural Concepts" (View-1008)
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf Category Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1014 Identify Actors
Modes Of Introduction
Section HelpThe different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.
Phase Note
Implementation When the product uses certificate pinning, the developer might not properly validate all relevant components of the certificate before pinning the certificate. This can make it difficult or expensive to test after the pinning is complete.
Implementation REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
Applicable Platforms
Section HelpThis listing shows possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.
Languages

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)

Likelihood Of Exploit
Medium
Demonstrative Examples

Example 1


The following OpenSSL code ensures that there is a certificate before continuing execution.

(bad code)
Example Language: C
if (cert = SSL_get_peer_certificate(ssl)) {

// got a certificate, do secret things

Because this code does not use SSL_get_verify_results() to check the certificate, it could accept certificates that have been revoked (X509_V_ERR_CERT_REVOKED). The product could be communicating with a malicious host.



Selected Observed Examples

Note: this is a curated list of examples for users to understand the variety of ways in which this weakness can be introduced. It is not a complete list of all CVEs that are related to this CWE entry.

Reference Description
LDAP-over-SSL implementation does not check Certificate Revocation List (CRL), allowing spoofing using a revoked certificate.
Operating system does not check Certificate Revocation List (CRL) in some cases, allowing spoofing using a revoked certificate.
Antivirus product does not check whether certificates from signed executables have been revoked.
Web browser does not check if any intermediate certificates are revoked.
chain: Ruby module for OCSP misinterprets a response, preventing detection of a revoked certificate.
chain: incorrect parsing of replies from OCSP responders allows bypass using a revoked certificate.
Router can permanently cache certain public keys, which would allow bypass if the certificate is later revoked.
chain: OS package manager does not properly check the return value, allowing bypass using a revoked certificate.
chain: language interpreter does not properly check the return value from an OSCP function, allowing bypass using a revoked certificate.
chain: web service component does not call the expected method, which prevents a check for revoked certificates.
Certificate revocation list not searched for certain certificates.
Product cannot access certificate revocation list when an HTTP proxy is being used.
Detection Methods
Method Details

Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Effectiveness: High
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 ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). 884 CWE Cross-section
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 948 SFP Secondary Cluster: Digital Certificate
MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1396 Comprehensive Categorization: Access Control
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.
Taxonomy Mappings
Mapped Taxonomy Name Node ID Fit Mapped Node Name
CLASP Failure to check for certificate revocation
References
[REF-18] Secure Software, Inc.. "The CLASP Application Security Process". 2005.
<https://cwe.mitre.org/documents/sources/TheCLASPApplicationSecurityProcess.pdf>. (URL validated: 2024年11月17日)
[REF-44] Michael Howard, David LeBlanc and John Viega. "24 Deadly Sins of Software Security". "Sin 23: Improper Use of PKI, Especially SSL." Page 347. McGraw-Hill. 2010.
Content History
Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2006年07月19日
(CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日) 		CLASP
Modifications
Modification Date Modifier Organization
2023年06月29日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023年04月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Detection_Factors, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction
2023年01月31日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Modes_of_Introduction
2020年02月24日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References, Relationships
2019年09月19日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples
2018年03月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Modes_of_Introduction, Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
2017年11月08日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Demonstrative_Examples, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships, Type
2014年07月30日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2013年07月17日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2013年02月21日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Observed_Examples, Other_Notes, Relationships, Type
2012年05月11日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References, Relationships
2011年06月01日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2010年12月13日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Other_Notes
2009年05月27日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2009年03月10日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description, Name, Relationships
2008年09月08日 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008年07月01日 Eric Dalci Cigital
updated Time_of_Introduction
Previous Entry Names
Change Date Previous Entry Name
2009年03月10日 Failure to Check for Certificate Revocation
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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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