CWE

Missing Reference to Active Allocated Resource

ID: 771		Date: (C)2012-05-14   (M)2022-10-10
Type: weakness		Status: INCOMPLETE
Abstraction Type: Base

Description

The software does not properly maintain a reference to a resource that has been allocated, which prevents the resource from being reclaimed.

Extended Description

This does not necessarily apply in languages or frameworks that automatically perform garbage collection, since the removal of all references may act as a signal that the resource is ready to be reclaimed.

Likelihood of Exploit: Medium to High

Applicable Platforms
None

Time Of Introduction

• Architecture and Design
• Implementation

Common Consequences

Scope	Technical Impact	Notes
Availability	DoS: resource consumption (other)	When allocating resources without limits, an attacker could prevent all other processes from accessing the same type of resource.

Detection Methods
None

Potential Mitigations

Phase	Strategy	Description	Effectiveness	Notes
Operation Architecture and Design	Limit Resource Consumption	Use resource-limiting settings provided by the operating system or environment. For example, when managing system resources in POSIX, setrlimit() can be used to set limits for certain types of resources, and getrlimit() can determine how many resources are available. However, these functions are not available on all operating systems. When the current levels get close to the maximum that is defined for the application (see CWE-770), then limit the allocation of further resources to privileged users; alternately, begin releasing resources for less-privileged users. While this mitigation may protect the system from attack, it will not necessarily stop attackers from adversely impacting other users. Ensure that the application performs the appropriate error checks and error handling in case resources become unavailable (CWE-703).

Relationships

Related CWE	Type	View	Chain
CWE-771 ChildOf CWE-892	Category	CWE-888

Demonstrative Examples
None

White Box Definitions
None

Black Box Definitions
None

Taxynomy Mappings
None

References:
None