CWE-588βAttempt to Access Child of a Non-structure Pointer
PUBLISHEDweakness record
released 2006-12-15 Β· last modified 2025-12-11
Metadata
- CWE ID:
- CWE-588
- Abstraction:
- Variant
- Structure:
- Simple
- Status:
- Incomplete
- Release Date:
- 2006-12-15
- Latest Modification Date:
- 2025-12-11
Weakness Name
Attempt to Access Child of a Non-structure Pointer
Description
Casting a non-structure type to a structure type and accessing a field can lead to memory access errors or data corruption.
Common Consequences
- Scope:
- Integrity
- Impact:
- Modify Memory
- Notes:
- Adjacent variables in memory may be corrupted by assignments performed on fields after the cast.
- Scope:
- Availability
- Impact:
- DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
- Notes:
- Execution may end due to a memory access error.