CWE-603 — Use of Client-Side Authentication
CWE-603: Use of Client-Side Authentication
MITRE CWE weakness
| Kind | Weakness |
| Abstraction | Base |
| Status | Draft |
| Likelihood of exploit | — |
Description
A client/server product performs authentication within client code but not in server code, allowing server-side authentication to be bypassed via a modified client that omits the authentication check.
Client-side authentication is extremely weak and may be breached easily. Any attacker may read the source code and reverse-engineer the authentication mechanism to access parts of the application which would otherwise be protected.
Common consequences
- Access Control: Bypass Protection Mechanism, Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Mitigations
Architecture and Design — Do not rely on client side data. Always perform server side authentication.
References
- CWE page: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/603.html
- CWE list: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/index.html