Identification and Authentication Failures
Confirmation of the user's identity, authentication, and session management is critical to protect against authentication-related attacks.
Overview
Previously known as Broken Authentication. Slid down from #2, now includes CWEs more related to identification failures. This category is still an integral part of the Top 10.
How Attackers Exploit This
Understanding attack patterns helps you build better defenses. These are the techniques security teams watch for.
Credential stuffing
Attackers use lists of stolen credentials from other breaches to attempt login across many sites.
Session hijacking
Session tokens are captured or predicted, allowing attackers to impersonate authenticated users.
Brute force attacks
Automated attempts to guess passwords through systematic trial of many possibilities.
How to Prevent
- Implement multi-factor authentication where possible
- Do not ship or deploy with default credentials
- Implement weak password checks against common passwords
- Align password policies with modern guidelines
- Harden registration and credential recovery against enumeration
- Limit or delay failed login attempts with proper logging
- Use secure session management with high-entropy session IDs
CWEs with Shoulder Detection (9)
These CWEs have Shoulder detection rules. Click to see specific vulnerabilities and fixes.
Other Mapped CWEs (13)
These CWEs are mapped to this category. Use MITRE references for guidance.