CWE-909Missing Initialization of Resource

Description

The product does not initialize a critical resource.

Many resources require initialization before they can be properly used. If a resource is not initialized, it could contain unpredictable or expired data, or it could be initialized to defaults that are invalid. This can have security implications when the resource is expected to have certain properties or values.

Common consequences

• Confidentiality→Read Memory,Read Application Data
  When reusing a resource such as memory or a program variable, the original contents of that resource may not be cleared before it is sent to an untrusted party.
• Availability→DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
  The uninitialized resource may contain values that cause program flow to change in ways that the programmer did not intend.

Potential mitigations

• Implementation
  Explicitly initialize the resource before use. If this is performed through an API function or standard procedure, follow all specified steps.
• Implementation
  Pay close attention to complex conditionals that affect initialization, since some branches might not perform the initialization.
• Implementation
  Avoid race conditions (CWE-362) during initialization routines.
• Build and Compilation
  Run or compile your product with settings that generate warnings about uninitialized variables or data.

Related CWEs

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