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CWE-912

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CWE-912

Hidden Functionality

Class
Incomplete

Description

The product contains functionality that is not documented, not part of the specification, and not accessible through an interface or command sequence that is obvious to the product's users or administrators.

Hidden functionality can take many forms, such as intentionally malicious code, "Easter Eggs" that contain extraneous functionality such as games, developer-friendly shortcuts that reduce maintenance or support costs such as hard-coded accounts, etc. From a security perspective, even when the functionality is not intentionally malicious or damaging, it can increase the product's attack surface and expose additional weaknesses beyond what is already exposed by the intended functionality. Even if it is not easily accessible, the hidden functionality could be useful for attacks that modify the control flow of the application.

Common Consequences

Scope

Other
Integrity

Impact

Varies by Context, Alter Execution Logic

Potential Mitigations

Installation

Always verify the integrity of the product that is being installed.

CVE-2022-31260

Chain: a digital asset management program has an undisclosed backdoor in the legacy version of a PHP script (CWE-912) that could allow an unauthenticated user to export metadata (CWE-306)

CVE-2022-3203

A wireless access point manual specifies that the only method of configuration is via web interface (CWE-1059), but there is an undisclosed telnet server that was activated by default (CWE-912).

Applicable Platforms

Not Language-Specific

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