CWE-290: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

What is CWE-290?

CWE-290 is Authentication Bypass by Spoofing. The flaw arises when this attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks. The database currently holds 220 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-290 and 2 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)220
AbstractionBase
Likelihood of exploit-

Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-290

220 vulnerabilities659% increase year over year

Vulnerabilities in CISA KEV for CWE-290

2 vulnerabilities100% increase year over year

Official definition

ByMitre CWE

This attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

  • Implementation
  • Architecture and Design

Common consequences

ImpactScopeExplanation
Bypass Protection Mechanism, Gain Privileges or Assume IdentityAccess ControlThis weakness can allow an attacker to access resources which are not otherwise accessible without proper authentication.

Representative vulnerabilities

Sources (2)

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