1158
Extended Description
In many languages, the compare statement is very close in appearance to the assignment
statement; they are often confused.
Relationships
The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this
weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOr and give insight to
similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such
as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that may want to be explored.
Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)
Nature Type ID Name Page
ChildOf 480 Use of Incorrect Operator 1150
Applicable Platforms
Language : C (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Language : C++ (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Likelihood Of Exploit
Low
Common Consequences
Scope Impact Likelihood
Availability
Integrity
Unexpected State
The assignment will not take place, which should cause
obvious program execution problems.
Detection Methods
Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST),
can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code)
without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control
flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input)
with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such
as the OS, etc.)
Effectiveness = High
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Testing
Many IDEs and static analysis products will detect this problem.
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1:
The following example demonstrates the weakness.
Example Language: Java (Bad)
void called(int foo) {
foo==1;
if (foo==1) System.out.println("foo\n");
}
int main() {
called(2);
return 0;
}
CWE Version 4.14
CWE-482: Comparing instead of Assigning
CWE-482: Comparing instead of Assigning