Wrap around errors occur whenever a value is incremented past the maximum value for its type and therefore "wraps around" to a very small, negative, or undefined value.
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanPrecede | Discouraged | C | 119 | Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer |
| ChildOf | Discouraged | P | 682 | Incorrect Calculation |
| PeerOf | Allowed | B | 190 | Integer Overflow or Wraparound |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 189 | Numeric Errors |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 742 | CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Chapter 9 - Memory Management (MEM) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 876 | CERT C++ Secure Coding Section 08 - Memory Management (MEM) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 998 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Glitch in Computation |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 1408 | Comprehensive Categorization: Incorrect Calculation |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-273 | Medium likelihood of exploit |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-311 | Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-314 | DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU) (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-316 | Bypass Protection Mechanism (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-324 | DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-327 | DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory) (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-329 | DoS: Instability (impact) |
| MemberOf | Prohibited | BS | BOSS-331 | Modify Memory (impact) |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 189 | Numeric Errors |
| Nature | Mapping | Type | ID | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MemberOf | Prohibited | C | 998 | SFP Secondary Cluster: Glitch in Computation |
Due to how addition is performed by computers, if a primitive is incremented past the maximum value possible for its storage space, the system will not recognize this, and therefore increment each bit as if it still had extra space. Because of how negative numbers are represented in binary, primitives interpreted as signed may "wrap" to very large negative values.
| Scope | Likelihood | Impact | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Availability | N/A | DoS: Crash, Exit, or RestartDoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)DoS: Instability | This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high. |
| Integrity | N/A | Modify Memory | If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur. |
| ConfidentialityAvailabilityAccess Control | N/A | Execute Unauthorized Code or CommandsBypass Protection Mechanism | This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy. |
This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high.
If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur.
This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy.
Requirements specification: The choice could be made to use a language that is not susceptible to these issues.
Provide clear upper and lower bounds on the scale of any protocols designed.
Perform validation on all incremented variables to ensure that they remain within reasonable bounds.
N/A
The following image processing code allocates a table for images.
This code intends to allocate a table of size num_imgs, however as num_imgs grows large, the calculation determining the size of the list will eventually overflow (CWE-190). This will result in a very small list to be allocated instead. If the subsequent code operates on the list as if it were num_imgs long, it may result in many types of out-of-bounds problems (CWE-119).
| Reference | Description |
|---|
| Ordinality | Description |
|---|---|
| Primary | N/A |
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.
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.
The relationship between overflow and wrap-around needs to be examined more closely, since several entries (including CWE-190) are closely related.
N/A
| Taxonomy Name | Entry ID | Fit | Entry Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLASP | N/A | N/A | Wrap-around error |
| CERT C Secure Coding | MEM07-C | N/A | Ensure that the arguments to calloc(), when multiplied, can be represented as a size_t |
| Software Fault Patterns | SFP1 | N/A | Glitch in computation |