CWE-187
Partial String Comparison
Description
The product performs a comparison that only examines a portion of a factor before determining whether there is a match, such as a substring, leading to resultant weaknesses.
For example, an attacker might succeed in authentication by providing a small password that matches the associated portion of the larger, correct password.
Parent Weaknesses (ChildOf)
Common Consequences
Scope
Impact
Alter Execution Logic, Bypass Protection Mechanism
Potential Mitigations
Thoroughly test the comparison scheme before deploying code into production. Perform positive testing as well as negative testing.
CVE-2014-6394Product does not prevent access to restricted directories due to partial string comparison with a public directory
CVE-2004-1012Argument parser of an IMAP server treats a partial command "body[p" as if it is "body.peek", leading to index error and out-of-bounds corruption.
CVE-2004-0765Web browser only checks the hostname portion of a certificate when the hostname portion of the URI is not a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), which allows remote attackers to spoof trusted certificates.
CVE-2002-1374One-character password by attacker checks only against first character of real password.
CVE-2000-0979One-character password by attacker checks only against first character of real password.
Applicable Platforms
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