CWE-128—Wrap-around Error
PUBLISHEDweakness recordMedium
released 2006-07-19 · last modified 2025-12-11
Metadata
- CWE ID:
- CWE-128
- Abstraction:
- Base
- Structure:
- Simple
- Status:
- Incomplete
- Release Date:
- 2006-07-19
- Latest Modification Date:
- 2025-12-11
Weakness Name
Wrap-around Error
Description
Wrap around errors occur whenever a value is incremented past the maximum value for its type and therefore "wraps around" to a very small, negative, or undefined value.
Common Consequences
- Scope:
- Availability
- Impact:
- DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU), DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory), DoS: Instability
- Notes:
- This weakness will generally lead to undefined behavior and therefore crashes. In the case of overflows involving loop index variables, the likelihood of infinite loops is also high.
- Scope:
- Integrity
- Impact:
- Modify Memory
- Notes:
- If the value in question is important to data (as opposed to flow), simple data corruption has occurred. Also, if the wrap around results in other conditions such as buffer overflows, further memory corruption may occur.
- Scope:
- Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control
- Impact:
- Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands, Bypass Protection Mechanism
- Notes:
- This weakness can sometimes trigger buffer overflows which can be used to execute arbitrary code. This is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy.