CWE - CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration (4.18)

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CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-613: Insufficient Session Expiration

Weakness ID: 613

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

According to WASC, "Insufficient Session Expiration is when a web site permits an attacker to reuse old session credentials or session IDs for authorization."

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
Implementation	Set sessions/credentials expiration date.

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.	672	Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release
CanPrecede	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.	287	Improper Authentication

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.	1217	User Session Errors

Relevant to the view "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (View-1003)

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.	672	Operation on a Resource after Expiration or Release

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.	1018	Manage User Sessions

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
Implementation	REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.

Demonstrative Examples

Example 1

The following snippet was taken from a J2EE web.xml deployment descriptor in which the session-timeout parameter is explicitly defined (the default value depends on the container). In this case the value is set to -1, which means that a session will never expire.

(bad code)

Example Language: Java

<web-app>

[...snipped...]

<session-config>

<session-timeout>-1</session-timeout>

</session-config>

</web-app>

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.	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.	930	OWASP Top Ten 2013 Category A2 - Broken Authentication and Session Management
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	951	SFP Secondary Cluster: Insecure Authentication Policy
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1028	OWASP Top Ten 2017 Category A2 - Broken 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.

Notes

Other

The lack of proper session expiration may improve the likely success of certain attacks. For example, an attacker may intercept a session ID, possibly via a network sniffer or Cross-site Scripting attack. Although short session expiration times do not help if a stolen token is immediately used, they will protect against ongoing replaying of the session ID. In another scenario, a user might access a web site from a shared computer (such as at a library, Internet cafe, or open work environment). Insufficient Session Expiration could allow an attacker to use the browser's back button to access web pages previously accessed by the victim.

Taxonomy Mappings

Mapped Taxonomy Name	Node ID	Fit	Mapped Node Name
WASC	47	Insufficient Session Expiration

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2007年05月07日 (CWE Draft 6, 2007年05月07日)	WASC
2007年05月07日 (CWE Draft 6, 2007年05月07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
2021年10月28日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021年10月28日	updated Relationships
2020年02月24日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020年02月24日	updated Relationships
2019年06月20日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019年06月20日	updated Relationships
2018年03月27日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2018年03月27日	updated Relationships
2017年11月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017年11月08日	updated Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships
2014年07月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014年07月30日	updated Relationships
2014年06月23日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014年06月23日	updated Relationships
2012年10月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年10月30日	updated Potential_Mitigations
2012年05月11日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年05月11日	updated Relationships
2011年06月01日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011年06月01日	updated Common_Consequences
2010年09月27日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010年09月27日	updated Taxonomy_Mappings
2010年02月16日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010年02月16日	updated Taxonomy_Mappings
2009年03月10日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009年03月10日	updated Relationships
2008年09月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年09月08日	updated Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008年07月01日	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008年07月01日	updated Potential_Mitigations, 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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