CWE-595: Comparison of Object References Instead of Object Contents

MITRE CWE weakness

Description

The product compares object references instead of the contents of the objects themselves, preventing it from detecting equivalent objects.

For example, in Java, comparing objects using == usually produces deceptive results, since the == operator compares object references rather than values; often, this means that using == for strings is actually comparing the strings' references, not their values.

Common consequences

• Other: Varies by Context

Mitigations

Implementation — In Java, use the equals() method to compare objects instead of the == operator. If using ==, it is important for performance reasons that your objects are created by a static factory, not by a constructor.

References

• CWE page: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/595.html
• CWE list: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/index.html