CWEweakness
CWE-207 Observable Behavioral Discrepancy With Equivalent Products
- Abstraction
- Variant
- Structure
- Simple
- Status
- Draft
- Languages
- Not Language-Specific
- CWE version
- 5.0
Description
The product operates in an environment in which its existence or specific identity should not be known, but it behaves differently than other products with equivalent functionality, in a way that is observable to an attacker.
Extended description
For many kinds of products, multiple products may be available that perform the same functionality, such as a web server, network interface, or intrusion detection system.
Often, an organization might intentionally allow the specific product to be identifiable. However, in some environments, the ability to identify a distinct product is unacceptable, and it is expected that every product would behave in exactly the same way. In these more restricted environments, a behavioral difference might pose an unacceptable risk if it makes it easier to identify the product's vendor, model, configuration, version, etc.
Common consequences
• Confidentiality, Access Control: Read Application Data, Bypass Protection Mechanism — Attackers often perform "fingerprinting," which uses discrepancies in order to identify which specific product is in use. Once the specific product has been identified, the attacks can be made more customized and efficient.
Observed examples
• CVE-2002-0208: Product modifies TCP/IP stack and ICMP error messages in unusual ways that show the product is in use.
• CVE-2004-2252: Behavioral infoleak by responding to SYN-FIN packets.
• CVE-2000-1142: Honeypot generates an error with a "pwd" command in a particular directory, allowing attacker to know they are in a honeypot system.
Related
Observed example · CVE (3)
- CVE-2004-2252 The firewall in Astaro Security Linux before 4.024 sends responses to SYN-FIN packets, which makes it easier for remote attackers to obtain… vulnerability
- CVE-2002-0208 PGP Security PGPfire 7.1 for Windows alters the system's TCP/IP stack and modifies packets in ICMP error messages in a way that allows… vulnerability
- CVE-2000-1142 Recourse ManTrap 1.6 generates an error when an attacker cd's to /proc/self/cwd and executes the pwd command, which allows attackers to… vulnerability
Child of · CWE (1)
- CWE-205 Observable Behavioral Discrepancy weakness
Referenced by CVE · weakness (1)
- CVE-2025-41657 Due to an undocumented active bluetooth stack on products delivered within the period 01.01.2024 to 09.05.2025 fingerprinting is possible… vulnerability