CWE-587βAssignment of a Fixed Address to a Pointer
PUBLISHEDweakness record
released 2006-12-15 Β· last modified 2025-12-11
Metadata
- CWE ID:
- CWE-587
- Abstraction:
- Variant
- Structure:
- Simple
- Status:
- Draft
- Release Date:
- 2006-12-15
- Latest Modification Date:
- 2025-12-11
Weakness Name
Assignment of a Fixed Address to a Pointer
Description
The product sets a pointer to a specific address other than NULL or 0.
Using a fixed address is not portable, because that address will probably not be valid in all environments or platforms.
Common Consequences
- Scope:
- Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability
- Impact:
- Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
- Notes:
- If one executes code at a known location, an attacker might be able to inject code there beforehand.
- Scope:
- Availability
- Impact:
- DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart, Reduce Maintainability, Reduce Reliability
- Notes:
- If the code is ported to another platform or environment, the pointer is likely to be invalid and cause a crash.
- Scope:
- Confidentiality, Integrity
- Impact:
- Read Memory, Modify Memory
- Notes:
- The data at a known pointer location can be easily read or influenced by an attacker.