{"@ID": "484", "@Name": "Omitted Break Statement in Switch", "@Abstraction": "Base", "@Structure": "Simple", "@Status": "Draft", "Description": "The product omits a break statement within a switch or similar construct, causing code associated with multiple conditions to execute. This can cause problems when the programmer only intended to execute code associated with one condition.", "Extended_Description": "This can lead to critical code executing in situations where it should not.", "Related_Weaknesses": {"Related_Weakness": [{"@Nature": "ChildOf", "@CWE_ID": "710", "@View_ID": "1000", "@Ordinal": "Primary"}, {"@Nature": "ChildOf", "@CWE_ID": "670", "@View_ID": "1000"}]}, "Weakness_Ordinalities": {"Weakness_Ordinality": [{"Ordinality": "Primary"}, {"Ordinality": "Indirect"}]}, "Applicable_Platforms": {"Language": [{"@Name": "C", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}, {"@Name": "C++", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}, {"@Name": "Java", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}, {"@Name": "C#", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}, {"@Name": "PHP", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}, {"@Class": "Not Language-Specific", "@Prevalence": "Undetermined"}]}, "Modes_Of_Introduction": {"Introduction": {"Phase": "Implementation"}}, "Likelihood_Of_Exploit": "Medium", "Common_Consequences": {"Consequence": {"Scope": "Other", "Impact": "Alter Execution Logic", "Note": "This weakness can cause unintended logic to be executed and other unexpected application behavior."}}, "Detection_Methods": {"Detection_Method": [{"Method": "White Box", "Description": "Omission of a break statement might be intentional, in order to support fallthrough. Automated detection methods might therefore be erroneous. Semantic understanding of expected product behavior is required to interpret whether the code is correct."}, {"Method": "Black Box", "Description": "Since this weakness is associated with a code construct, it would be indistinguishable from other errors that produce the same behavior."}, {"@Detection_Method_ID": "DM-14", "Method": "Automated Static Analysis", "Description": "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": {"Mitigation": [{"Phase": "Implementation", "Description": "Omitting a break statement so that one may fall through is often indistinguishable from an error, and therefore should be avoided. If you need to use fall-through capabilities, make sure that you have clearly documented this within the switch statement, and ensure that you have examined all the logical possibilities."}, {"Phase": "Implementation", "Description": "The functionality of omitting a break statement could be clarified with an if statement. This method is much safer."}]}, "Demonstrative_Examples": {"Demonstrative_Example": {"@Demonstrative_Example_ID": "DX-182", "Intro_Text": "In both of these examples, a message is printed based on the month passed into the function:", "Example_Code": [{"@Nature": "Bad", "@Language": "Java", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:div": {"@style": "margin-left:1em;", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:div": {"@style": "margin-left:1em;", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:br": [null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null], "#text": "case 1: print(\"January\");case 2: print(\"February\");case 3: print(\"March\");case 4: print(\"April\");case 5: print(\"May\");case 6: print(\"June\");case 7: print(\"July\");case 8: print(\"August\");case 9: print(\"September\");case 10: print(\"October\");case 11: print(\"November\");case 12: print(\"December\");"}}, "xhtml:br": null, "#text": "switch (month) {}println(\" is a great month\");"}}, "#text": "public void printMessage(int month){}"}}, {"@Nature": "Bad", "@Language": "C", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:div": {"@style": "margin-left:1em;", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:div": {"@style": "margin-left:1em;", "xhtml:div": {"xhtml:br": [null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null], "#text": "case 1: printf(\"January\");case 2: printf(\"February\");case 3: printf(\"March\");case 4: printf(\"April\");case 5: printff(\"May\");case 6: printf(\"June\");case 7: printf(\"July\");case 8: printf(\"August\");case 9: printf(\"September\");case 10: printf(\"October\");case 11: printf(\"November\");case 12: printf(\"December\");"}}, "xhtml:br": null, "#text": "switch (month) {}printf(\" is a great month\");"}}, "#text": "void printMessage(int month){}"}}], "Body_Text": "Both examples do not use a break statement after each case, which leads to unintended fall-through behavior. For example, calling \"printMessage(10)\" will result in the text \"OctoberNovemberDecember is a great month\" being printed."}}, "Taxonomy_Mappings": {"Taxonomy_Mapping": [{"@Taxonomy_Name": "CLASP", "Entry_Name": "Omitted break statement"}, {"@Taxonomy_Name": "Software Fault Patterns", "Entry_ID": "SFP4", "Entry_Name": "Unchecked Status Condition"}]}, "References": {"Reference": [{"@External_Reference_ID": "REF-18"}, {"@External_Reference_ID": "REF-62", "@Section": "Chapter 7, \"Switch Statements\", Page 337"}]}, "Mapping_Notes": {"Usage": "Allowed", "Rationale": "This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.", "Comments": "Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.", "Reasons": {"Reason": {"@Type": "Acceptable-Use"}}}, "Content_History": {"Submission": {"Submission_Name": "CLASP", "Submission_Date": "2006-07-19", "Submission_Version": "Draft 3", "Submission_ReleaseDate": "2006-07-19"}, "Modification": [{"Modification_Name": "Eric Dalci", "Modification_Organization": "Cigital", "Modification_Date": "2008-07-01", "Modification_Version": "1.0", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2008-09-09", "Modification_Comment": "updated Time_of_Introduction"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2008-09-08", "Modification_Version": "1.0", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2008-09-09", "Modification_Comment": "updated Applicable_Platforms, Description, Detection_Factors, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2008-11-24", "Modification_Version": "1.1", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2008-11-25", "Modification_Comment": "updated Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Detection_Factors, Name, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, Weakness_Ordinalities"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2011-06-01", "Modification_Version": "1.13", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2011-06-01", "Modification_Comment": "updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2012-05-11", "Modification_Version": "2.2", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2012-05-15", "Modification_Comment": "updated Common_Consequences, References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2012-10-30", "Modification_Version": "2.3", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2012-10-30", "Modification_Comment": "updated Demonstrative_Examples"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2014-07-30", "Modification_Version": "2.8", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2014-07-31", "Modification_Comment": "updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2017-11-08", "Modification_Version": "3.0", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2017-11-08", "Modification_Comment": "updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2019-01-03", "Modification_Version": "3.2", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2019-01-03", "Modification_Comment": "updated Weakness_Ordinalities"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2020-02-24", "Modification_Version": "4.0", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2020-02-24", "Modification_Comment": "updated References, Relationships"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2020-08-20", "Modification_Version": "4.2", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2020-08-20", "Modification_Comment": "updated Relationships"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2023-01-31", "Modification_Version": "4.10", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2023-01-31", "Modification_Comment": "updated Description, Detection_Factors"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2023-04-27", "Modification_Version": "4.11", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2023-04-27", "Modification_Comment": "updated Detection_Factors, Relationships"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2023-06-29", "Modification_Version": "4.12", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2023-06-29", "Modification_Comment": "updated Mapping_Notes"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2023-10-26", "Modification_Version": "4.13", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2023-10-26", "Modification_Comment": "updated Demonstrative_Examples"}, {"Modification_Name": "CWE Content Team", "Modification_Organization": "MITRE", "Modification_Date": "2025-12-11", "Modification_Version": "4.19", "Modification_ReleaseDate": "2025-12-11", "Modification_Comment": "updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships"}], "Previous_Entry_Name": {"@Date": "2008-11-24", "#text": "Omitted Break Statement"}}}