CWE-289: Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name

What is CWE-289?

CWE-289 is Authentication Bypass by Alternate Name. The flaw arises when the product performs authentication based on the name of a resource being accessed, or the name of the actor performing the access, but it does not properly check all possible names for that resource or actor. The database currently holds 20 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-289 and none of them are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Analyzing data...

OWASP TOP 10:2025 RANK7 — A07:2025 — Authentication Failures
Related CVES (365 days)20
AbstractionBase
Likelihood of exploit-

Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-289

20 vulnerabilities567% increase year over year

No data

No vulnerability data in CISA KEV for CWE-289

Official definition

ByMitre CWE

The product performs authentication based on the name of a resource being accessed, or the name of the actor performing the access, but it does not properly check all possible names for that resource or actor.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

  • Architecture and Design: COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.
  • Implementation

Common consequences

ImpactScopeExplanation
Bypass Protection MechanismAccess Control-

Risk mitigations

  1. Input Validation · Architecture and DesignAvoid making decisions based on names of resources (e.g. files) if those resources can have alternate names.
  2. Input Validation · ImplementationAssume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
  3. Input Validation · ImplementationInputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.

Detection methods

MethodApproachEffectiveness
Automated Static AnalysisAutomated 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.)-

Representative vulnerabilities

Sources (2)

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