← 返回首页
CWE - CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere (4.20)

Common Weakness Enumeration

A community-developed list of SW & HW weaknesses that can become vulnerabilities
Home > CWE List > CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere (4.20)  
ID Lookup:

CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere

Weakness ID: 668
Vulnerability Mapping: DISCOURAGED This CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Class 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.
View customized information:
Conceptual For users who are interested in more notional aspects of a weakness. Example: educators, technical writers, and project/program managers. Operational For users who are concerned with the practical application and details about the nature of a weakness and how to prevent it from happening. Example: tool developers, security researchers, pen-testers, incident response analysts. Mapping Friendly For users who are mapping an issue to CWE/CAPEC IDs, i.e., finding the most appropriate CWE for a specific issue (e.g., a CVE record). Example: tool developers, security researchers. Complete For users who wish to see all available information for the CWE/CAPEC entry. Custom For users who want to customize what details are displayed.
×

Edit Custom Filter

Conceptual Operational Mapping Friendly Select All

Reset Clear Submit Cancel
Description
The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.
Extended Description

Resources such as files and directories may be inadvertently exposed through mechanisms such as insecure permissions, or when a program accidentally operates on the wrong object. For example, a program may intend that private files can only be provided to a specific user. This effectively defines a control sphere that is intended to prevent attackers from accessing these private files. If the file permissions are insecure, then parties other than the user will be able to access those files.

A separate control sphere might effectively require that the user can only access the private files, but not any other files on the system. If the program does not ensure that the user is only requesting private files, then the user might be able to access other files on the system.

In either case, the end result is that a resource has been exposed to the wrong party.

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

Read Application Data

Scope: Confidentiality

Likelihood: High

An adversary that gains access to a resource exposed to a wrong sphere could potentially retrieve private data from that resource, thus breaking the intended confidentiality of that data.

Modify Application Data

Scope: Integrity

Likelihood: Medium

An adversary that gains access to a resource exposed to a wrong sphere could potentially modify data held within that resource, thus breaking the intended integrity of that data and causing the system relying on that resource to make unintended decisions.

Varies by Context

Scope: Other

The consequences may vary widely depending on how the product uses the affected resource.
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
ChildOf 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. 664 Improper Control of a Resource Through its Lifetime
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 8 J2EE Misconfiguration: Entity Bean Declared Remote
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. 134 Use of Externally-Controlled Format String
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. 200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
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. 374 Passing Mutable Objects to an Untrusted Method
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. 375 Returning a Mutable Object to an Untrusted Caller
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. 377 Insecure Temporary File
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. 402 Transmission of Private Resources into a New Sphere ('Resource Leak')
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. 427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element
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. 428 Unquoted Search Path or Element
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. 488 Exposure of Data Element to Wrong Session
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 491 Public cloneable() Method Without Final ('Object Hijack')
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 492 Use of Inner Class Containing Sensitive Data
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 493 Critical Public Variable Without Final Modifier
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 498 Cloneable Class Containing Sensitive Information
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 499 Serializable Class Containing 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. 522 Insufficiently Protected Credentials
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. 524 Use of Cache Containing Sensitive Information
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. 552 Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 582 Array Declared Public, Final, and Static
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 583 finalize() Method Declared Public
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 608 Struts: Non-private Field in ActionForm Class
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. 642 External Control of Critical State 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. 732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
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. 767 Access to Critical Private Variable via Public Method
ParentOf Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 927 Use of Implicit Intent for Sensitive Communication
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. 1189 Improper Isolation of Shared Resources on System-on-a-Chip (SoC)
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. 1282 Assumed-Immutable Data is Stored in Writable Memory
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. 1327 Binding to an Unrestricted IP Address
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. 1331 Improper Isolation of Shared Resources in Network On Chip (NoC)
CanFollow 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. 22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CanFollow 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. 441 Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy')
CanFollow Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 942 Permissive Cross-domain Security Policy with Untrusted Domains
Relevant to the view "Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities" (View-1003)
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). 1003 Weaknesses for Simplified Mapping of Published Vulnerabilities
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. 134 Use of Externally-Controlled Format String
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. 426 Untrusted Search Path
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. 427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element
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. 428 Unquoted Search Path or Element
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. 552 Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
Relevant to the view "Architectural Concepts" (View-1008)
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1011 Authorize Actors
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 REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
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)

Weakness Ordinalities
Ordinality Description
Primary
(where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
Resultant
(where the weakness is typically related to the presence of some other weaknesses)
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. 963 SFP Secondary Cluster: Exposed Data
MemberOf Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1345 OWASP Top Ten 2021 Category A01:2021 - Broken Access Control
MemberOf Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1364 ICS Communications: Zone Boundary Failures
MemberOf Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1403 Comprehensive Categorization: Exposed Resource
MemberOf Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1436 OWASP Top Ten 2025 Category A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
Vulnerability Mapping Notes
Usage DISCOURAGED
(this CWE ID should not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
Reasons Frequent Misuse, Frequent Misinterpretation, Abstraction

Rationale

CWE-668 is high-level and is often misused as a catch-all when lower-level children might be applicable. It is sometimes used for low-information vulnerability reports [REF-1287]. It is a level-1 Class (i.e., a child of a Pillar). It is not useful for trend analysis.

Comments

Frequent misuse appears to be related to access control issues (poor authorization (CWE-285) or authentication (CWE-287)); insertion of sensitive information (CWE-201) or improper removal of sensitive information (CWE-212); or others. Closely analyze the specific mistake that is allowing the resource to be exposed, and perform a CWE mapping for that mistake. It is highly likely that CWE-668's children or descendants could apply.
Notes

Theoretical

A "control sphere" is a set of resources and behaviors that are accessible to a single actor, or a group of actors. A product's security model will typically define multiple spheres, possibly implicitly. For example, a server might define one sphere for "administrators" who can create new user accounts with subdirectories under /home/server/, and a second sphere might cover the set of users who can create or delete files within their own subdirectories. A third sphere might be "users who are authenticated to the operating system on which the product is installed." Each sphere has different sets of actors and allowable behaviors.
References
[REF-1287] MITRE. "Supplemental Details - 2022 CWE Top 25". Details of Problematic Mappings. 2022-06-28.
<https://cwe.mitre.org/top25/archive/2022/2022_cwe_top25_supplemental.html#problematicMappingDetails>. (URL validated: 2024-11-17)
Content History
Submissions Submission Date Submitter Organization Modifications Modification Date Modifier Organization
2008-04-11
(CWE Draft 9, 2008-04-11) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
2026-04-30
(CWE 4.20, 2026-04-30) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2025-12-11
(CWE 4.19, 2025-12-11) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities
2025-04-03
(CWE 4.17, 2025-04-03) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences, Relationships
2023-06-29
(CWE 4.12, 2023-06-29) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023-04-27
(CWE 4.11, 2023-04-27) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2022-10-13
(CWE 4.9, 2022-10-13) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated References
2022-04-28
(CWE 4.7, 2022-04-28) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2021-10-28
(CWE 4.6, 2021-10-28) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2021-03-15
(CWE 4.4, 2021-03-15) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2020-06-25
(CWE 4.1, 2020-06-25) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2020-02-24
(CWE 4.0, 2020-02-24) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2019-06-20
(CWE 3.3, 2019-06-20) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2019-01-03
(CWE 3.2, 2019-01-03) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2017-11-08
(CWE 3.0, 2017-11-08) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships, Relevant_Properties
2017-01-19
(CWE 2.10, 2017-01-19) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2015-12-07
(CWE 2.9, 2015-12-07) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2014-07-30
(CWE 2.8, 2014-07-31) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2014-06-23
(CWE 2.7, 2014-06-23) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2013-07-17
(CWE 2.5, 2013-07-17) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2013-02-21
(CWE 2.4, 2013-02-21) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2012-05-11
(CWE 2.2, 2012-05-15) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2011-06-01
(CWE 1.13, 2011-06-01) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Common_Consequences
2011-03-29
(CWE 1.12, 2011-03-30) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2010-09-27
(CWE 1.10, 2010-09-27) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2009-12-28
(CWE 1.7, 2009-12-28) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2009-10-29
(CWE 1.6, 2009-10-29) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Other_Notes, Theoretical_Notes
2009-07-27
(CWE 1.5, 2009-07-27) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description, Relationships
2009-07-22
(CWE 1.5, 2009-07-27) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
Clarified description to include permissions.
2009-05-27
(CWE 1.4, 2009-05-27) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2008-11-24
(CWE 1.1, 2008-11-25) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships
2008-09-08
(CWE 1.0, 2008-09-09) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Relationships, Other_Notes
2008-07-01
(CWE 1.0, 2008-09-09) 		Eric Dalci Cigital
updated Time_of_Introduction
Page Last Updated: April 30, 2026
 

Use of the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE™) and the associated references from this website are subject to the Terms of Use. CWE is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and managed by the Homeland Security Systems Engineering and Development Institute (HSSEDI) which is operated by The MITRE Corporation (MITRE). Copyright © 2006–2026, The MITRE Corporation. CWE, CWSS, CWRAF, and the CWE logo are trademarks of The MITRE Corporation.