CWE

Common Weakness Enumeration

A community-developed list of SW & HW weaknesses that can become vulnerabilities

New to CWE? click here!
CWE Most Important Hardware Weaknesses
CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Weaknesses
Home > CWE List > CWE- Individual Dictionary Definition (4.15)  
ID

CWE CATEGORY: CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 9 - Memory Management (MEM)

Category ID: 742
Vulnerability Mapping: PROHIBITEDThis CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
+ Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the rules and recommendations in the Memory Management (MEM) chapter of the CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008).
+ Membership
NatureTypeIDName
MemberOfViewView - 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).734Weaknesses Addressed by the CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008)
HasMemberClassClass - 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.20Improper Input Validation
HasMemberClassClass - 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.119Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.128Wrap-around Error
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.131Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.190Integer Overflow or Wraparound
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.226Sensitive Information in Resource Not Removed Before Reuse
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.244Improper Clearing of Heap Memory Before Release ('Heap Inspection')
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.252Unchecked Return Value
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.415Double Free
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.416Use After Free
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.476NULL Pointer Dereference
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.528Exposure of Core Dump File to an Unauthorized Control Sphere
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.590Free of Memory not on the Heap
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.591Sensitive Data Storage in Improperly Locked Memory
HasMemberBaseBase - 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.628Function Call with Incorrectly Specified Arguments
HasMemberClassClass - 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.665Improper Initialization
HasMemberVariantVariant - 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.687Function Call With Incorrectly Specified Argument Value
HasMemberClassClass - 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.754Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions
+ Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Usage: PROHIBITED

(this CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)

Reason: Category

Rationale:

This entry is a Category. Using categories for mapping has been discouraged since 2019. Categories are informal organizational groupings of weaknesses that can help CWE users with data aggregation, navigation, and browsing. However, they are not weaknesses in themselves.

Comments:

See member weaknesses of this category.
+ Notes

Relationship

In the 2008 version of the CERT C Secure Coding standard, the following rules were mapped to the following CWE IDs:

  • CWE-20 MEM10-C Define and use a pointer validation function
  • CWE-119 MEM09-C Do not assume memory allocation routines initialize memory
  • CWE-128 MEM07-C Ensure that the arguments to calloc(), when multiplied, can be represented as a size_t
  • CWE-131 MEM35-C Allocate sufficient memory for an object
  • CWE-190 MEM07-C Ensure that the arguments to calloc(), when multiplied, can be represented as a size_t
  • CWE-190 MEM35-C Allocate sufficient memory for an object
  • CWE-226 MEM03-C Clear sensitive information stored in reusable resources returned for reuse
  • CWE-244 MEM03-C Clear sensitive information stored in reusable resources returned for reuse
  • CWE-252 MEM32-C Detect and handle memory allocation errors
  • CWE-415 MEM00-C Allocate and free memory in the same module, at the same level of abstraction
  • CWE-415 MEM01-C Store a new value in pointers immediately after free()
  • CWE-415 MEM31-C Free dynamically allocated memory exactly once
  • CWE-416 MEM00-C Allocate and free memory in the same module, at the same level of abstraction
  • CWE-416 MEM01-C Store a new value in pointers immediately after free()
  • CWE-416 MEM30-C Do not access freed memory
  • CWE-476 MEM32-C Detect and handle memory allocation errors
  • CWE-528 MEM06-C Ensure that sensitive data is not written out to disk
  • CWE-590 MEM34-C Only free memory allocated dynamically
  • CWE-591 MEM06-C Ensure that sensitive data is not written out to disk
  • CWE-628 MEM08-C Use realloc() only to resize dynamically allocated arrays
  • CWE-665 MEM09-C Do not assume memory allocation routines initialize memory
  • CWE-687 MEM04-C Do not perform zero length allocations
  • CWE-754 MEM32-C Detect and handle memory allocation errors
+ References
[REF-597] Robert C. Seacord. "The CERT C Secure Coding Standard". 1st Edition. Addison-Wesley Professional. 2008-10-14.
+ Content History
+ Submissions
Submission DateSubmitterOrganization
2008-11-24
(CWE 1.1, 2008-11-24)
CWE Content TeamMITRE
+ Modifications
Modification DateModifierOrganization
2011-09-13CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Relationships
2017-11-08CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Description, Name, Relationship_Notes
2019-01-03CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Description, Name, References
2023-04-27CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023-06-29CWE Content TeamMITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
+ Previous Entry Names
Change DatePrevious Entry Name
2017-11-08CERT C Secure Coding Section 08 - Memory Management (MEM)
2019-01-03CERT C Secure Coding (2008 Version) Section 08 - Memory Management (MEM)
Page Last Updated: July 07, 2024