Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions
Improper Handling of Physical or Environmental Conditions
CWE-1384
Short description
Extended description
Hardware products are typically only guaranteed to behave correctly within certain physical limits or environmental conditions. Such products cannot necessarily control the physical or external conditions to which they are subjected. However, the inability to handle such conditions can undermine a product's security. For example, an unexpected physical or environmental condition may cause the flipping of a bit that is used for an authentication decision. This unexpected condition could occur naturally or be induced artificially by an adversary.
Physical or environmental conditions of concern are:
Best practices to prevent this CWE
Phase: Requirements
In requirements, be specific about expectations for how the product will perform when it exceeds physical and environmental boundary conditions, e.g., by shutting down.
Phase: Architecture and Design; Implementation
Where possible, include independent components that can detect excess environmental conditions and have the capability to shut down the product.
Phase: Architecture and Design; Implementation
Where possible, use shielding or other materials that can increase the adversary's workload and reduce the likelihood of being able to successfully trigger a security-related failure.
