CAPEC Definitions / CAPEC-180
CAPEC-180: Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels
An attacker exploits a weakness in the configuration of access controls and is able to bypass the intended protection that these measures guard against and thereby obtain unauthorized access to the system or network. Sensitive functionality should always be protected with access controls. However configuring all but the most trivial access control systems can be very complicated and there are many opportunities for mistakes. If an attacker can learn of incorrectly configured access security settings, they may be able to exploit this in an attack.
Extended Description
Most commonly, attackers would take advantage of controls that provided too little protection for sensitive activities in order to perform actions that should be denied to them. In some circumstances, an attacker may be able to take advantage of overly restrictive access control policies, initiating denial of services (if an application locks because it unexpectedly failed to be granted access) or causing other legitimate actions to fail due to security. The latter class of attacks, however, is usually less severe and easier to detect than attacks based on inadequate security restrictions. This attack pattern differs from CAPEC 1, "Accessing Functionality Not Properly Constrained by ACLs" in that the latter describes attacks where sensitive functionality lacks access controls, where, in this pattern, the access control is present, but incorrectly configured.
Mitigations
Design: Configure the access control correctly.
Relationships with other CAPECs
Prerequisites
The target must apply access controls, but incorrectly configure them. However, not all incorrect configurations can be exploited by an attacker. If the incorrect configuration applies too little security to some functionality, then the attacker may be able to exploit it if the access control would be the only thing preventing an attacker's access and it no longer does so. If the incorrect configuration applies too much security, it must prevent legitimate activity and the attacker must be able to force others to require this activity..
Related Weaknesses
CWE-732: Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
CWE-1190: DMA Device Enabled Too Early in Boot Phase
CWE-1191: On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control
CWE-1193: Power-On of Untrusted Execution Core Before Enabling Fabric Access Control
CWE-1220: Insufficient Granularity of Access Control
CWE-1268: Policy Privileges are not Assigned Consistently Between Control and Data Agents
CWE-1280: Access Control Check Implemented After Asset is Accessed
CWE-1297: Unprotected Confidential Information on Device is Accessible by OSAT Vendors
CWE-1311: Improper Translation of Security Attributes by Fabric Bridge
CWE-1315: Improper Setting of Bus Controlling Capability in Fabric End-point
CWE-1318: Missing Support for Security Features in On-chip Fabrics or Buses
CWE-1320: Improper Protection for Outbound Error Messages and Alert Signals
CWE-1321: Improperly Controlled Modification of Object Prototype Attributes ('Prototype Pollution')
