CWE-1259: Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment

What is CWE-1259?

CWE-1259 is Improper Restriction of Security Token Assignment. The flaw arises when The System-On-A-Chip (SoC) implements a Security Token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. The database currently holds 7 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-1259 and none of them are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

OWASP Top 10 Rank-
Related CVES (365 days)7
AbstractionBase
Likelihood of exploit-

Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-1259

7 vulnerabilities

No data

No vulnerability data in CISA KEV for CWE-1259

Official definition

ByMitre CWE

The System-On-A-Chip (SoC) implements a Security Token mechanism to differentiate what actions are allowed or disallowed when a transaction originates from an entity. However, the Security Tokens are improperly protected.

Systems-On-A-Chip (Integrated circuits and hardware engines) implement Security Tokens to differentiate and identify which actions originated from which agent. These actions may be one of the directives: 'read', 'write', 'program', 'reset', 'fetch', 'compute', etc. Security Tokens are assigned to every agent in the System that is capable of generating an action or receiving an action from another agent. Multiple Security Tokens may be assigned to an agent and may be unique based on the agent's trust level or allowed privileges. Since the Security Tokens are integral for the maintenance of security in an SoC, they need to be protected properly. A common weakness afflicting Security Tokens is improperly restricting the assignment to trusted components.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

  • Architecture and Design
  • Implementation

Common consequences

ImpactScopeExplanation
Modify Files or Directories, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, Bypass Protection Mechanism, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Modify Memory, DoS: Crash, Exit, or RestartConfidentiality, Integrity, Availability, Access ControlAn improperly protected Security Token may be able to be programmed by a malicious agent (i.e., the Security Token is mutable) to spoof the action as if it originated from a trusted agent.

Risk mitigations

  1. Architecture and Design, Implementation- Security Token assignment review checks for design inconsistency and common weaknesses. - Security-Token definition and programming flow is tested in both pre-silicon and post-silicon testing.
Sources (2)

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