CWE-403—Exposure of File Descriptor to Unintended Control Sphere ('File Descriptor Leak')

Weakness Name

Exposure of File Descriptor to Unintended Control Sphere ('File Descriptor Leak')

Description

A process does not close sensitive file descriptors before invoking a child process, which allows the child to perform unauthorized I/O operations using those descriptors.

When a new process is forked or executed, the child process inherits any open file descriptors. When the child process has fewer privileges than the parent process, this might introduce a vulnerability if the child process can access the file descriptor but does not have the privileges to access the associated file.

Common Consequences

Scope:

Confidentiality, Integrity

Impact:

Read Application Data, Modify Application Data

Related Weaknesses

• CWE-402Transmission of Private Resources into a New Sphere ('Resource Leak')