CWE - CWE-500: Public Static Field Not Marked Final (4.18)

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CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-500: Public Static Field Not Marked Final

Weakness ID: 500

Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: 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.

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Description

An object contains a public static field that is not marked final, which might allow it to be modified in unexpected ways.

Extended Description

Public static variables can be read without an accessor and changed without a mutator by any classes in the application.

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
Modify Application Data	Scope: Integrity The object could potentially be tampered with.
Read Application Data	Scope: Confidentiality The object could potentially allow the object to be read.

Potential Mitigations

Phase(s)	Mitigation
Architecture and Design	Clearly identify the scope for all critical data elements, including whether they should be regarded as static.
Implementation	Make any static fields private and constant. A constant field is denoted by the keyword 'const' in C/C++ and ' final' in Java

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	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.	493	Critical Public Variable Without Final Modifier

Background Details

When a field is declared public but not final, the field can be read and written to by arbitrary Java code.

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

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

C++ (Undetermined Prevalence)

Java (Undetermined Prevalence)

Likelihood Of Exploit

High

Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

The following examples use of a public static String variable to contain the name of a property/configuration file for the application.

(bad code)

Example Language: C++

class SomeAppClass {

public:

static string appPropertiesConfigFile = "app/properties.config";

...

}

(bad code)

Example Language: Java

public class SomeAppClass {

public static String appPropertiesFile = "app/Application.properties";
...

}

Having a public static variable that is not marked final (constant) may allow the variable to the altered in a way not intended by the application. In this example the String variable can be modified to indicate a different on nonexistent properties file which could cause the application to crash or caused unexpected behavior.

(good code)

Example Language: C++

class SomeAppClass {

public:

static const string appPropertiesConfigFile = "app/properties.config";

...

}

(good code)

Example Language: Java

public class SomeAppClass {

public static final String appPropertiesFile = "app/Application.properties";
...

}

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

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	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	849	The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011) Chapter 6 - Object Orientation (OBJ)
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1002	SFP Secondary Cluster: Unexpected Entry Points
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1139	SEI CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java - Guidelines 05. Object Orientation (OBJ)
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1403	Comprehensive Categorization: Exposed Resource

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 Variant 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
CLASP	Overflow of static internal buffer
The CERT Oracle Secure Coding Standard for Java (2011)	OBJ10-J	Do not use public static nonfinal variables
Software Fault Patterns	SFP28	Unexpected access points

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)

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006年07月19日 (CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日)	CLASP
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 Detection_Factors, Relationships
2020年02月24日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020年02月24日	updated References, Relationships
2019年01月03日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019年01月03日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2017年11月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017年11月08日	updated White_Box_Definitions
2014年07月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014年07月30日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2012年10月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年10月30日	updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Potential_Mitigations
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
2009年05月27日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009年05月27日	updated Relationships
2008年11月24日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年11月24日	updated Background_Details, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Name, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations
2008年11月05日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年11月05日	Significant clarification of this entry, and improved examples.
2008年09月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年09月08日	updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008年08月01日	KDM Analytics
2008年08月01日	added/updated white box definitions
2008年07月01日	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008年07月01日	updated Time_of_Introduction
Previous Entry Names
Change Date	Previous Entry Name
2008年04月11日	Overflow of Static Internal Buffer
2008年11月24日	Static Field Not Marked Final

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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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