CWE - CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure (4.17)

Weakness ID: 693

Vulnerability Mapping: DISCOURAGED This CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Pillar Pillar - a weakness that is the most abstract type of weakness and represents a theme for all class/base/variant weaknesses related to it. A Pillar is different from a Category as a Pillar is still technically a type of weakness that describes a mistake, while a Category represents a common characteristic used to group related things.

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Description

The product does not use or incorrectly uses a protection mechanism that provides sufficient defense against directed attacks against the product.

Extended Description

This weakness covers three distinct situations. A "missing" protection mechanism occurs when the application does not define any mechanism against a certain class of attack. An "insufficient" protection mechanism might provide some defenses - for example, against the most common attacks - but it does not protect against everything that is intended. Finally, an "ignored" mechanism occurs when a mechanism is available and in active use within the product, but the developer has not applied it in some code path.

Common Consequences

This 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

Relationships

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
MemberOf	View - 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).	1000	Research Concepts
ParentOf	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.	184	Incomplete List of Disallowed Inputs
ParentOf	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.	311	Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data
ParentOf	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.	326	Inadequate Encryption Strength
ParentOf	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.	327	Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
ParentOf	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.	330	Use of Insufficiently Random Values
ParentOf	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.	345	Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
ParentOf	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.	357	Insufficient UI Warning of Dangerous Operations
ParentOf	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.	358	Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard
ParentOf	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.	424	Improper Protection of Alternate Path
ParentOf	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.	602	Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security
ParentOf	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.	653	Improper Isolation or Compartmentalization
ParentOf	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.	654	Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision
ParentOf	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.	655	Insufficient Psychological Acceptability
ParentOf	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.	656	Reliance on Security Through Obscurity
ParentOf	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.	757	Selection of Less-Secure Algorithm During Negotiation ('Algorithm Downgrade')
ParentOf	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.	807	Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision
ParentOf	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.	1039	Inadequate Detection or Handling of Adversarial Input Perturbations in Automated Recognition Mechanism
ParentOf	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.	1248	Semiconductor Defects in Hardware Logic with Security-Sensitive Implications
ParentOf	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.	1253	Incorrect Selection of Fuse Values
ParentOf	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.	1269	Product Released in Non-Release Configuration
ParentOf	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.	1278	Missing Protection Against Hardware Reverse Engineering Using Integrated Circuit (IC) Imaging Techniques
ParentOf	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.	1291	Public Key Re-Use for Signing both Debug and Production Code
ParentOf	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.	1318	Missing Support for Security Features in On-chip Fabrics or Buses
ParentOf	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.	1319	Improper Protection against Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EM-FI)
ParentOf	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.	1326	Missing Immutable Root of Trust in Hardware
ParentOf	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.	1338	Improper Protections Against Hardware Overheating

Modes Of Introduction

The 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
Operation

Applicable Platforms

This listing shows possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.

Languages	Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)
Technologies	Class: Not Technology-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence) Class: ICS/OT (Undetermined Prevalence)

Memberships

This 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	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	975	SFP Secondary Cluster: Architecture
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1370	ICS Supply Chain: Common Mode Frailties
MemberOf	Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1413	Comprehensive Categorization: Protection Mechanism Failure

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Usage	DISCOURAGED (this CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
Reason	Abstraction
Rationale	This CWE entry is extremely high-level, a Pillar.
Comments	Consider children or descendants of this entry instead.

Notes

Research Gap

The concept of protection mechanisms is well established, but protection mechanism failures have not been studied comprehensively. It is suspected that protection mechanisms can have significantly different types of weaknesses than the weaknesses that they are intended to prevent.

Related Attack Patterns

CAPEC-ID	Attack Pattern Name
CAPEC-1	Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs
CAPEC-107	Cross Site Tracing
CAPEC-127	Directory Indexing
CAPEC-17	Using Malicious Files
CAPEC-20	Encryption Brute Forcing
CAPEC-22	Exploiting Trust in Client
CAPEC-237	Escaping a Sandbox by Calling Code in Another Language
CAPEC-36	Using Unpublished Interfaces or Functionality
CAPEC-477	Signature Spoofing by Mixing Signed and Unsigned Content
CAPEC-480	Escaping Virtualization
CAPEC-51	Poison Web Service Registry
CAPEC-57	Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Obtain Sensitive Data
CAPEC-59	Session Credential Falsification through Prediction
CAPEC-65	Sniff Application Code
CAPEC-668	Key Negotiation of Bluetooth Attack (KNOB)
CAPEC-74	Manipulating State
CAPEC-87	Forceful Browsing

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2008-04-11 (CWE Draft 9, 2008-04-11)	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-04-11 (CWE Draft 9, 2008-04-11)
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2025-04-03 (CWE 4.17, 2025-04-03)	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2025-04-03 (CWE 4.17, 2025-04-03)	updated Relationships
2023-06-29	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023-06-29	updated Mapping_Notes
2023-04-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023-04-27	updated Relationships
2023-01-31	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023-01-31	updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships
2021-10-28	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021-10-28	updated Relationships
2021-07-20	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021-07-20	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2021-03-15	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021-03-15	updated Maintenance_Notes
2020-12-10	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-12-10	updated Relationships
2020-08-20	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-08-20	updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships
2020-06-25	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-06-25	updated Relationships
2020-02-24	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020-02-24	updated Applicable_Platforms, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships, Type
2019-06-20	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019-06-20	updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships
2019-01-03	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2019-01-03	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2018-03-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2018-03-27	updated Relationships
2017-11-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-11-08	updated Applicable_Platforms
2017-05-03	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-05-03	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2017-01-19	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2017-01-19	updated Relationships
2015-12-07	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2015-12-07	updated Relationships
2014-07-30	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014-07-30	updated Relationships
2014-02-18	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014-02-18	updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2013-07-17	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2013-07-17	updated Relationships
2013-02-21	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2013-02-21	updated Relationships
2012-05-11	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012-05-11	updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships
2011-06-01	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-06-01	updated Common_Consequences
2011-03-29	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011-03-29	updated Maintenance_Notes, Other_Notes, Relationships
2010-02-16	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2010-02-16	updated Relationships
2009-10-29	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-10-29	updated Relationships
2009-07-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-07-27	updated Relationships
2009-05-27	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-05-27	updated Description, Related_Attack_Patterns
2009-03-10	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-03-10	updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships
2009-01-12	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009-01-12	updated Relationships
2008-09-08	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008-09-08	updated Description, Relationships, Other_Notes
2008-07-01	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008-07-01	updated Time_of_Introduction


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Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure

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