CWE - CWE-302: Authentication Bypass by Assumed-Immutable Data (4.18)

Home > CWE List > CWE-302: Authentication Bypass by Assumed-Immutable Data (4.18)

CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-302: Authentication Bypass by Assumed-Immutable Data

Weakness ID: 302

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 authentication scheme or implementation uses key data elements that are assumed to be immutable, but can be controlled or modified by the attacker.

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
Bypass Protection Mechanism	Scope: Access Control

Potential Mitigations

Phase(s)	Mitigation
Architecture and Design; Operation; Implementation	Implement proper protection for immutable data (e.g. environment variable, hidden form fields, etc.)

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.	807	Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision
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.	1390	Weak Authentication

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.	1010	Authenticate 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
Architecture and Design	COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.
Implementation

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)

Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

In the following example, an "authenticated" cookie is used to determine whether or not a user should be granted access to a system.

(bad code)

Example Language: Java

boolean authenticated = new Boolean(getCookieValue("authenticated")).booleanValue();
if (authenticated) {

...

}

Modifying the value of a cookie on the client-side is trivial, but many developers assume that cookies are essentially immutable.

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
CVE-2002-0367	DebPloit
CVE-2004-0261	Web auth
CVE-2002-1730	Authentication bypass by setting certain cookies to "true".
CVE-2002-1734	Authentication bypass by setting certain cookies to "true".
CVE-2002-2064	Admin access by setting a cookie.
CVE-2002-2054	Gain privileges by setting cookie.
CVE-2004-1611	Product trusts authentication information in cookie.
CVE-2005-1708	Authentication bypass by setting admin-testing variable to true.
CVE-2005-1787	Bypass auth and gain privileges by setting a variable.

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.	724	OWASP Top Ten 2004 Category A3 - Broken Authentication and Session Management
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	859	The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011) Chapter 16 - Platform Security (SEC)
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	949	SFP Secondary Cluster: Faulty Endpoint Authentication
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1353	OWASP Top Ten 2021 Category A07:2021 - Identification and Authentication Failures
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
PLOVER	Authentication Bypass via Assumed-Immutable Data
OWASP Top Ten 2004	A1	CWE More Specific	Unvalidated Input
The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011)	SEC02-J	Do not base security checks on untrusted sources

Related Attack Patterns

CAPEC-ID	Attack Pattern Name
CAPEC-10	Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
CAPEC-13	Subverting Environment Variable Values
CAPEC-21	Exploitation of Trusted Identifiers
CAPEC-274	HTTP Verb Tampering
CAPEC-31	Accessing/Intercepting/Modifying HTTP Cookies
CAPEC-39	Manipulating Opaque Client-based Data Tokens
CAPEC-45	Buffer Overflow via Symbolic Links
CAPEC-77	Manipulating User-Controlled Variables

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006年07月19日 (CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日)	PLOVER
2006年07月19日 (CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日)
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2023年06月29日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年06月29日	updated Mapping_Notes
2023年04月27日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年04月27日	updated Relationships
2023年01月31日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年01月31日	updated Type
2022年10月13日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2022年10月13日	updated Relationships
2021年10月28日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021年10月28日	updated Relationships
2021年03月15日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021年03月15日	updated Demonstrative_Examples
2020年02月24日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020年02月24日	updated Relationships
2019年01月03日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019年01月03日	updated Taxonomy_Mappings
2017年11月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017年11月08日	updated Applicable_Platforms, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships
2017年05月03日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017年05月03日	updated Relationships
2014年07月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014年07月30日	updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships
2012年05月11日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年05月11日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011年06月01日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011年06月01日	updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2010年04月05日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010年04月05日	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2010年02月16日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010年02月16日	updated Potential_Mitigations, Relationships
2009年03月10日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009年03月10日	updated Relationships
2008年10月14日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年10月14日	updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description
2008年09月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年09月08日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008年07月01日	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008年07月01日	updated Time_of_Introduction
2008年07月01日	Sean Eidemiller	Cigital
2008年07月01日	added/updated demonstrative examples

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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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