CWE - CWE-308: Use of Single-factor Authentication (4.19.1)
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    CWE-308: Use of Single-factor Authentication

    Weakness ID: 308
    Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
    Abstraction: Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.
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    + Description
    The product uses an authentication algorithm that uses a single factor (e.g., a password) in a security context that should require more than one factor. Diagram for CWE-308
    + Common Consequences
    Section HelpThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.
    Impact Details

    Bypass Protection Mechanism

    		Scope: Access Control

    If the secret in a single-factor authentication scheme gets compromised, full authentication is possible.
    + Potential Mitigations
    Phase(s) Mitigation

    Architecture and Design
    Use multiple independent authentication schemes, which ensures that -- if one of the methods is compromised -- the system itself is still likely safe from compromise. For this reason, if multiple schemes are possible, they should be implemented and required -- especially if they are easy to use.
    + Relationships
    Section Help This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.
    + Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (View-1000)
    Nature Type ID Name
    ChildOf Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 654 Reliance on a Single Factor in a Security Decision
    ChildOf Class Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. 1390 Weak Authentication
    PeerOf Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. 309 Use of Password System for Primary Authentication
    + Relevant to the view "Software Development" (View-699)
    Nature Type ID Name
    MemberOf Category Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1211 Authentication Errors
    + Relevant to the view "Architectural Concepts" (View-1008)
    Nature Type ID Name
    MemberOf Category Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1010 Authenticate Actors
    + Modes Of Introduction
    Section HelpThe different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.
    Phase Note
    Architecture and Design COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.
    + Applicable Platforms
    Section HelpThis listing shows possible areas for which the given weakness could appear. These may be for specific named Languages, Operating Systems, Architectures, Paradigms, Technologies, or a class of such platforms. The platform is listed along with how frequently the given weakness appears for that instance.
    Languages

    Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined Prevalence)

    + Likelihood Of Exploit
    High
    + Demonstrative Examples

    Example 1


    In both of these examples, a user is logged in if their given password matches a stored password:

    (bad code)
    Example Language: C 
    unsigned char *check_passwd(char *plaintext) {
    ctext = simple_digest("sha1",plaintext,strlen(plaintext), ... );
    //Login if hash matches stored hash
    if (equal(ctext, secret_password())) {
    login_user();
    }
    }
    (bad code)
    Example Language: Java 
    String plainText = new String(plainTextIn);
    MessageDigest encer = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA");
    encer.update(plainTextIn);
    byte[] digest = password.digest();
    //Login if hash matches stored hash
    if (equal(digest,secret_password())) {
    login_user();
    }

    This code relies exclusively on a password mechanism (CWE-309) using only one factor of authentication (CWE-308). If an attacker can steal or guess a user's password, they are given full access to their account. Note this code also uses SHA-1, which is a weak hash (CWE-328). It also does not use a salt (CWE-759).



    + Selected Observed Examples

    Note: this is a curated list of examples for users to understand the variety of ways in which this weakness can be introduced. It is not a complete list of all CVEs that are related to this CWE entry.

    Reference Description
    Chat application skips validation when Central Authentication Service (CAS) is enabled, effectively removing the second factor from two-factor authentication
    + Weakness Ordinalities
    Ordinality Description
    Primary
    (where the weakness exists independent of other weaknesses)
    + Memberships
    Section HelpThis MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.
    Nature Type ID Name
    MemberOf ViewView - a subset of CWE entries that provides a way of examining CWE content. The two main view structures are Slices (flat lists) and Graphs (containing relationships between entries). 884 CWE Cross-section
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 947 SFP Secondary Cluster: Authentication Bypass
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1028 OWASP Top Ten 2017 Category A2 - Broken Authentication
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1368 ICS Dependencies (& Architecture): External Digital Systems
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1396 Comprehensive Categorization: Access Control
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1442 OWASP Top Ten 2025 Category A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
    + Vulnerability Mapping Notes
    Usage ALLOWED
    (this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)
    Reason Acceptable-Use

    Rationale

    		This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

    Comments

    		Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.
    + Notes

    Other

    While the use of multiple authentication schemes is simply piling on more complexity on top of authentication, it is inestimably valuable to have such measures of redundancy. The use of weak, reused, and common passwords is rampant on the internet.
    + Taxonomy Mappings
    Mapped Taxonomy Name Node ID Fit Mapped Node Name
    CLASP Using single-factor authentication
    + References
    [REF-18] Secure Software, Inc.. "The CLASP Application Security Process". 2005.
    <https://cwe.mitre.org/documents/sources/TheCLASPApplicationSecurityProcess.pdf>. (URL validated: 2024-11-17)
    + Content History
    + Submissions
    Submission Date Submitter Organization
    2006-07-19
    (CWE Draft 3, 2006-07-19)     		CLASP
    + Modifications
    Modification Date Modifier Organization
    2025-12-11
    (CWE 4.19, 2025-12-11)     		CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Description, Diagram, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities
    2023-10-26 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Observed_Examples
    2023-06-29 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Mapping_Notes, Relationships
    2023-04-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2022-10-13 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2021-03-15 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Demonstrative_Examples
    2020-08-20 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Related_Attack_Patterns
    2020-02-24 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated References, Relationships
    2018-03-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2017-11-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Applicable_Platforms, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships
    2014-07-30 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2012-10-30 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Demonstrative_Examples
    2012-05-11 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2011-06-01 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Common_Consequences
    2010-02-16 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Description, Other_Notes
    2008-09-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
    + Previous Entry Names
    Change Date Previous Entry Name
    2008-04-11 Using Single-factor Authentication
    Page Last Updated: January 21, 2026