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CWE CATEGORY: CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008) Appendix - POSIX (POS)

Category ID: 748
Vulnerability Mapping: PROHIBITED This CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
+ Summary
Weaknesses in this category are related to the rules and recommendations in the POSIX (POS) appendix of the CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008).
+ Membership
Nature Type ID Name
MemberOf ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). 734 Weaknesses Addressed by the CERT C Secure Coding Standard (2008)
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 170 Improper Null Termination
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 242 Use of Inherently Dangerous Function
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 272 Least Privilege Violation
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 273 Improper Check for Dropped Privileges
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 363 Race Condition Enabling Link Following
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 366 Race Condition within a Thread
HasMember BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 562 Return of Stack Variable Address
HasMember ClassClass - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. 667 Improper Locking
HasMember VariantVariant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 686 Function Call With Incorrect Argument Type
HasMember ClassClass - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. 696 Incorrect Behavior Order
+ Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Usage: PROHIBITED

(this CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)

Reason: Category

Rationale:

This entry is a Category. Using categories for mapping has been discouraged since 2019. Categories are informal organizational groupings of weaknesses that can help CWE users with data aggregation, navigation, and browsing. However, they are not weaknesses in themselves.

Comments:

See member weaknesses of this category.
+ Notes

Relationship

In the 2008 version of the CERT C Secure Coding standard, the following rules were mapped to the following CWE IDs:

  • CWE-59 POS01-C Check for the existence of links when dealing with files
  • CWE-170 POS30-C Use the readlink() function properly
  • CWE-242 POS33-C Do not use vfork()
  • CWE-272 POS02-C Follow the principle of least privilege
  • CWE-273 POS37-C Ensure that privilege relinquishment is successful
  • CWE-363 POS35-C Avoid race conditions while checking for the existence of a symbolic link
  • CWE-366 POS00-C Avoid race conditions with multiple threads
  • CWE-562 POS34-C Do not call putenv() with a pointer to an automatic variable as the argument
  • CWE-667 POS31-C Do not unlock or destroy another thread's mutex
  • CWE-686 POS34-C Do not call putenv() with a pointer to an automatic variable as the argument
  • CWE-696 POS36-C Observe correct revocation order while relinquishing privileges
+ References
[REF-597] Robert C. Seacord. "The CERT C Secure Coding Standard". 1st Edition. Addison-Wesley Professional. 2008-10-14.
+ Content History
+ Submissions
Submission Date Submitter Organization
2008-11-24
(CWE 1.1, 2008-11-24) 		CWE Content Team MITRE
+ Modifications
Modification Date Modifier Organization
2017-11-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description, Name, Relationship_Notes
2019-01-03 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Description, Name, References, Relationship_Notes, Relationships
2023-04-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
2023-06-29 CWE Content Team MITRE
updated Mapping_Notes
+ Previous Entry Names
Change Date Previous Entry Name
2017-11-08 CERT C Secure Coding Section 50 - POSIX (POS)
2019-01-03 CERT C Secure Coding (2008 Version) Section 50 - POSIX (POS)
Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025
 

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