CWE-837
Improper Enforcement of a Single, Unique Action
Incomplete
2011-03-30
00h00 +00:00
00h00 +00:00
2025-12-11
00h00 +00:00
00h00 +00:00
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Name: Improper Enforcement of a Single, Unique Action
The product requires that an actor should only be able to perform an action once, or to have only one unique action, but the product does not enforce or improperly enforces this restriction.
CWE Description
In various applications, a user is only expected to perform a certain action once, such as voting, requesting a refund, or making a purchase. When this restriction is not enforced, sometimes this can have security implications. For example, in a voting application, an attacker could attempt to "stuff the ballot box" by voting multiple times. If these votes are counted separately, then the attacker could directly affect who wins the vote. This could have significant business impact depending on the purpose of the product.
General Informations
Modes Of Introduction
ImplementationApplicable Platforms
Language
Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)Technologies
Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined)Class: Web Based (Undetermined)
Name: Web Server (Undetermined)
Common Consequences
| Scope | Impact | Likelihood |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Varies by Context Note: An attacker might be able to gain advantage over other users by performing the action multiple times, or affect the correctness of the product. |
Observed Examples
| References | Description |
|---|---|
CVE-2008-0294 | Ticket-booking web application allows a user to lock a seat more than once. |
CVE-2005-4051 | CMS allows people to rate downloads by voting more than once. |
CVE-2002-216 | Polling software allows people to vote more than once by setting a cookie. |
CVE-2003-1433 | Chain: lack of validation of a challenge key in a game allows a player to register multiple times and lock other players out of the game. |
CVE-2002-1018 | Library feature allows attackers to check out the same e-book multiple times, preventing other users from accessing copies of the e-book. |
CVE-2009-2346 | Protocol implementation allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (call-number exhaustion) by initiating many message exchanges. |
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Justification : 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.Comment : 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.
Submission
| Name | Organization | Date | Date release | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | 1.12 |
Modifications
| Name | Organization | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Observed_Examples | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Description | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Mapping_Notes | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences | |
| CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Applicable_Platforms, Time_of_Introduction, Weakness_Ordinalities |
