CWE-1277: Firmware Not Updateable
Without the ability to patch or update firmware, consumers will be left vulnerable to exploitation of any known vulnerabilities, or any vulnerabilities that are discovered in the future. This can expose consumers to permanent risk throughout the entire lifetime of the device, which could be years or decades. Some external protective measures and mitigations might be employed to aid in preventing or reducing the risk of malicious attack, but the root weakness cannot be corrected.
Modes of Introduction
| Phase | Note |
|---|---|
| Requirements | Requirements development might not consider the importance of updates over the lifetime of the product, or might not choose the ability due to concerns such as expense or speed to market. |
| Architecture and Design | Lack of planning during architecture development and design, or external pressures such as speed to market, could ignore the capability to update. |
| Implementation | The weakness can appear through oversight during implementation. |
Applicable Platforms
| Type | Class | Name | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Not Language-Specific | ||
| Operating_system | Not OS-Specific | ||
| Architecture | Not Architecture-Specific | ||
| Technology | Not Technology-Specific |
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
The Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC™) effort provides a publicly available catalog of common attack patterns that helps users understand how adversaries exploit weaknesses in applications and other cyber-enabled capabilities.
CAPEC at Mitre.org