What is CWE-269?
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Analyzing data...
CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Data statistics
OWASP TOP 10:2025 RANK6 — A06:2025 — Insecure Design
RELATED CVES (365 DAYS)414
ABSTRACTIONClass
LIKELIHOOD OF EXPLOITMedium
Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-269
414 vulnerabilities331.3% increase year over year
Vulnerabilities in CISA KEV for CWE-269
2 vulnerabilities100% increase year over year
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
Characteristics
Modes of introduction
- Architecture and Design
- Implementation: REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
- Operation
Common consequences
| Impact | Scope | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Gain Privileges or Assume Identity | Access Control | — |
Risk mitigations
- Architecture and Design, OperationVery carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
- Separation of Privilege · Architecture and DesignFollow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
- Separation of Privilege · Architecture and DesignConsider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
Detection methods
| Method | Approach | Effectiveness |
|---|---|---|
| Automated Static Analysis | Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.) | High |
Representative vulnerabilities
Below are representative vulnerabilities related to this CWE, prioritized by severity.
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