CWE-405: Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification)

What is CWE-405?

CWE-405 is Asymmetric Resource Consumption (Amplification). The flaw arises when the product does not properly control situations in which an adversary can cause the product to consume or produce excessive resources without requiring the adversary to invest equivalent work or otherwise prove authorization, i.e., the adversary's influence is "asymmetric.". The database currently holds 38 vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-405 and none of them are in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

OWASP Top 10 Rank-
Related CVES (365 days)38
AbstractionClass
Likelihood of exploit-

Vulnerabilities mapped to CWE-405

38 vulnerabilities322% increase year over year

No data

No vulnerability data in CISA KEV for CWE-405

Official definition

ByMitre CWE

The product does not properly control situations in which an adversary can cause the product to consume or produce excessive resources without requiring the adversary to invest equivalent work or otherwise prove authorization, i.e., the adversary's influence is "asymmetric."

This can lead to poor performance due to "amplification" of resource consumption, typically in a non-linear fashion. This situation is worsened if the product allows malicious users or attackers to consume more resources than their access level permits.

Characteristics

Modes of introduction

  • Architecture and Design
  • Implementation
  • Operation

Common consequences

ImpactScopeExplanation
DoS: Amplification, DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU), DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory), DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)AvailabilitySometimes this is a factor in "flood" attacks, but other types of amplification exist.

Risk mitigations

  1. Architecture and DesignAn application must make resources available to a client commensurate with the client's access level.
  2. Architecture and DesignAn application must, at all times, keep track of allocated resources and meter their usage appropriately.
  3. System Configuration · Effectiveness: HighConsider disabling resource-intensive algorithms on the server side, such as Diffie-Hellman key exchange.Business requirements may prevent disabling resource-intensive algorithms.

Representative vulnerabilities

Sources (2)

CWE™ Program, operated by The MITRE Corporation. Copyright © 2006–2026, The MITRE Corporation. The MITRE Corporation hereby grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use CWE for research, development, and commercial purposes. CWE Terms of Use.

Learn more

Run an in-depth assessment with complete web risk management

CyStack VulnScan continuously discovers assets, validates vulnerabilities, and helps security teams prioritize remediation across the organization.