CWE-281: Improper Preservation of Permissions

What is CWE-281?

CWE-281 is Improper Preservation of Permissions. The flaw arises when the product does not preserve permissions or incorrectly preserves permissions when copying, restoring, or sharing objects, which can cause them to have less restrictive permissions than intended. The database currently holds 30 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-281 and none of them are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

OWASP TOP 10:2025 RANK1 — A01:2025 — Broken Access Control
Related CVES (365 days)30
AbstractionBase
Likelihood of exploit-

Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-281

30 vulnerabilities150% increase year over year

No data

No vulnerability data in CISA KEV for CWE-281

Official definition

ByMitre CWE

The product does not preserve permissions or incorrectly preserves permissions when copying, restoring, or sharing objects, which can cause them to have less restrictive permissions than intended.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

  • Implementation: REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.
  • Operation

Common consequences

ImpactScopeExplanation
Read Application Data, Modify Application DataConfidentiality, Integrity-

Representative vulnerabilities

Below are representative vulnerabilities related to this CWE, prioritized by severity.

Sources (2)
MITRE CWE
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