CWE-125
Out-of-bounds Read
Description
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Parent Weaknesses (ChildOf)
Common Consequences
Scope
Impact
Read Memory
Scope
Impact
Bypass Protection Mechanism
Scope
Impact
DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
Scope
Impact
Varies by Context
Potential Mitigations
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright. To reduce the likelihood of introducing an out-of-bounds read, ensure that you validate and ensure correct calculations for any length argument, buffer size calculation, or offset. Be especially careful of relying on a sentinel (i.e. special character such as NUL) in untrusted inputs.
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
CVE-2023-1018The reference implementation code for a Trusted Platform Module does not implement length checks on data, allowing for an attacker to read 2 bytes past the end of a buffer.
CVE-2020-11899Out-of-bounds read in IP stack used in embedded systems, as exploited in the wild per CISA KEV.
CVE-2014-0160Chain: "Heartbleed" bug receives an inconsistent length parameter (CWE-130) enabling an out-of-bounds read (CWE-126), returning memory that could include private cryptographic keys and other sensitive data.
CVE-2021-40985HTML conversion package has a buffer under-read, allowing a crash
CVE-2018-10887Chain: unexpected sign extension (CWE-194) leads to integer overflow (CWE-190), causing an out-of-bounds read (CWE-125)
CVE-2009-2523Chain: product does not handle when an input string is not NULL terminated (CWE-170), leading to buffer over-read (CWE-125) or heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122).
CVE-2018-16069Chain: series of floating-point precision errors (CWE-1339) in a web browser rendering engine causes out-of-bounds read (CWE-125), giving access to cross-origin data
CVE-2004-0112out-of-bounds read due to improper length check
CVE-2004-0183packet with large number of specified elements cause out-of-bounds read.
CVE-2004-0221packet with large number of specified elements cause out-of-bounds read.
+4 more examples
Applicable Platforms
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