CWE-1384 is a class level weakness: the product does not properly handle unexpected physical or environmental conditions, whether they occur naturally or are induced on purpose.
How it happens
Hardware is guaranteed to behave only within certain physical limits. A product cannot always control the conditions around it, but failing to handle them can undermine security. MITRE's example is an unexpected condition flipping a bit that is used for an authentication decision.
The conditions it lists:
- Atmospheric extremes such as temperature.
- Interference, including EMI and RFI.
- Light sources: white light, UV, lasers, infrared.
- Power variances: under or over voltage, under or over current.
- Clock variances: glitching, overclocking, clock stretching.
- Component aging and degradation.
- Materials manipulation such as focused ion beams.
- Radiation, including x-rays and cosmic radiation.
The record includes CVE-2019-17391: lack of anti-glitch protections let an attacker launch a physical attack to bypass secure boot and read protected eFuses.
What an attacker gains
Confidentiality, integrity and availability effects, varying by context and by the role of the affected component. Expect an unexpected state.
How to find it
The record lists no detection methods. A threat model that names each condition above, and asks what each security decision does when it occurs, is the practical check.
How to fix it
- In requirements, state how the product must behave when it exceeds boundary conditions, for example by shutting down.
- Where possible, include independent components that detect excess environmental conditions and can shut the product down.
- Where possible, use shielding or other materials that raise the attacker's workload and lower the chance of triggering a security failure.
Quick check
Do the conditions have to be induced by an attacker?
No. They can occur naturally or be artificially induced, and the weakness is the failure to handle either.
