A secure system is invariably subject to stresses, such as those caused by attack, erroneous or malicious inputs, hardware or software faults, unanticipated user behavior, and unexpected environmental changes that are outside the bounds of "normal operation." Yet the system must continue to deliver essential services in a timely manner, safely and securely. To accomplish this, the system must exhibit qualities such as robustness, reliability, error tolerance, fault tolerance, performance, and security. All of these system-quality attributes depend on consistent and comprehensive error handling that supports the goals of the overall system.
ISO/IEC TR 24772, Section section 6.39.1 [ISO/IEC TR 24772], says:
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An error-handling policy must specify a comprehensive approach to error reporting and response. Components and routines should always generate status indicators, and all called routines should have their error returns checked. All input should be checked for compliance with the formal requirements for such input rather than be blindly trusted. Moreover, never assume, on the basis of specific knowledge about the system or its domain, that the success of a called routine is guaranteed. The failure to report or properly respond to errors or other anomalies from a system perspective can threaten the survivability of the system as a whole.
ISO/IEC TR 24772:2013, Section section 6.39.5 [ISO/IEC TR 24772:2013], describes the following mitigation strategies:
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Failure to adopt and implement a consistent and comprehensive error-handling policy is detrimental to system survivability and can result in a broad range of vulnerabilities depending on the operational characteristics of the system.
Recommendation | Severity | Likelihood | Remediation Cost | Priority | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ERR00-C |
Medium |
Probable |
High | P4 | L3 |
Related Vulnerabilities
Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.
Related Guidelines
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Automated Detection
Tool | Version | Checker | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checks for situations where error information is not checked (rec. partially covered) |
Related Guidelines
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| ISO/IEC TR 24772:2013 | Termination Strategy [REU] |
| MISRA |
| C:2012 | Rule |
| 17.1 (required) | |
| MITRE CWE | CWE-391, Unchecked error condition CWE-544, Missing standardized error handling mechanism |
Bibliography
| [Fisher 1999] |
| [Horton 1990] | Section 11, p. 168 |
Section 14, p. 254 | |
| [Koenig 1989] | Section 5.4, p. 73 |
| [Lipson 2000] |
| [Lipson 2006] |
| [Summit 2005] | C-FAQ Question 20.4 |
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