CWE-1279
Cryptographic Operations are run Before Supporting Units are Ready
Description
Performing cryptographic operations without ensuring that the supporting inputs are ready to supply valid data may compromise the cryptographic result.
Many cryptographic hardware units depend upon other hardware units to supply information to them to produce a securely encrypted result. For example, a cryptographic unit that depends on an external random-number-generator (RNG) unit for entropy must wait until the RNG unit is producing random numbers. If a cryptographic unit retrieves a private encryption key from a fuse unit, the fuse unit must be up and running before a key may be supplied.
Parent Weaknesses (ChildOf)
Common Consequences
Scope
Impact
Varies by Context
Potential Mitigations
Best practices should be used to design cryptographic systems.
Continuously ensuring that cryptographic inputs are supplying valid information is necessary to ensure that the encrypted output is secure.
Applicable Platforms
Security Training
Train your team to recognize and prevent security threats with our comprehensive security awareness program.
Start TrainingVulnerability Scanning
Discover vulnerabilities in your applications and infrastructure before attackers do.
Scan Now