CWE-640 Detail

CWE-640

Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
Hoog
Incomplete
2008-01-30
00h00 +00:00
2025-12-11
00h00 +00:00
CWE Mitre.org
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Naam: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.

Algemene informatie

Introductiemodi

Architecture and Design : COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.
Implementation

Toepasselijke platforms

Taal

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)

Veelvoorkomende gevolgen

Bereik Impact Waarschijnlijkheid
Access ControlGain Privileges or Assume Identity

Note: An attacker could gain unauthorized access to the system by retrieving legitimate user's authentication credentials.
AvailabilityDoS: Resource Consumption (Other)

Note: An attacker could deny service to legitimate system users by launching a brute force attack on the password recovery mechanism using user ids of legitimate users.
Integrity
Other		Other

Note: The system's security functionality is turned against the system by the attacker.

Mogelijke risicobeperkingen

Phases : Architecture and Design
Make sure that all input supplied by the user to the password recovery mechanism is thoroughly filtered and validated.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Do not use standard weak security questions and use several security questions.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Make sure that there is throttling on the number of incorrect answers to a security question. Disable the password recovery functionality after a certain (small) number of incorrect guesses.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Require that the user properly answers the security question prior to resetting their password and sending the new password to the e-mail address of record.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Never allow the user to control what e-mail address the new password will be sent to in the password recovery mechanism.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Assign a new temporary password rather than revealing the original password.

Notities kwetsbaarheidsmapping

Rechtvaardiging : This entry appears to be frequently misused for any weakness related to password changes, even though the name focuses on "Password Recovery" for a "forgotten" password.
Opmerking : CWE-640 should only be used when there is a "password recovery" mechanism for forgotten passwords. Consider password-related entries under CWE-1390: Weak Authentication.

Gerelateerde aanvalspatronen

CAPEC-ID Naam aanvalspatroon
CAPEC-50 Password Recovery Exploitation
An attacker may take advantage of the application feature to help users recover their forgotten passwords in order to gain access into the system with the same privileges as the original user. Generally password recovery schemes tend to be weak and insecure.

Notities

This entry might be reclassified as a category or "loose composite," since it lists multiple specific errors that can make the mechanism weak. However, under view 1000, it could be a weakness under protection mechanism failure, although it is different from most PMF issues since it is related to a feature that is designed to bypass a protection mechanism (specifically, the lack of knowledge of a password).
This entry probably needs to be split; see extended description.

Referenties

REF-44

24 Deadly Sins of Software Security
Michael Howard, David LeBlanc, John Viega.

Indiening

Naam Organisatie Datum Releasedatum Version
Evgeny Lebanidze Cigital 2008-01-30 +00:00 2008-01-30 +00:00 Draft 8

Wijzigingen

Naam Organisatie Datum Opmerking
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-09-08 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences, Description, Maintenance_Notes, Name, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-03-10 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-05-27 +00:00 updated Related_Attack_Patterns
CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-02-16 +00:00 updated Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2010-12-13 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-03-29 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-01 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-05-11 +00:00 updated References, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-10-30 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2014-06-23 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2014-07-30 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2015-12-07 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2017-11-08 +00:00 updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Enabling_Factors_for_Exploitation, Modes_of_Introduction, Observed_Examples, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2018-03-27 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2019-06-20 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2021-10-28 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2022-10-13 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-01-31 +00:00 updated Description
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-04-27 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-06-29 +00:00 updated Mapping_Notes
CWE Content Team MITRE 2025-12-11 +00:00 updated Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities
De informatie die op CVE Find wordt gepresenteerd, is afkomstig van verschillende zorgvuldig geselecteerde referentiebronnen. CVE-gegevens worden geleverd door MITRE Corporation en de National Vulnerability Database (NVD). De Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV)-catalogus is afkomstig van de Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), terwijl EPSS-scores afkomstig zijn van FIRST.org. Daarnaast worden gegevens over softwarezwakheden (CWE) en veelvoorkomende aanvalspatronen (CAPEC) bijgehouden door MITRE Corporation, en informatie over hardware- en softwareconfiguraties (CPE) wordt geleverd door de NVD.