CWE - CWE-320: CWE CATEGORY: Key Management Errors (4.19.1)
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  • CWE CATEGORY: Key Management Errors

    Category ID: 320
    Vulnerability Mapping: PROHIBITED This CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
    + Summary
    Weaknesses in this category are related to errors in the management of cryptographic keys.
    + Membership
    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). 699 Software Development
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 934 OWASP Top Ten 2013 Category A6 - Sensitive Data Exposure
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1029 OWASP Top Ten 2017 Category A3 - Sensitive Data Exposure
    MemberOf CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. 1439 OWASP Top Ten 2025 Category A04:2025 - Cryptographic Failures
    HasMember BaseBase - 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. 322 Key Exchange without Entity Authentication
    HasMember BaseBase - 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. 323 Reusing a Nonce, Key Pair in Encryption
    HasMember BaseBase - 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. 324 Use of a Key Past its Expiration Date
    HasMember BaseBase - 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. 798 Use of Hard-coded Credentials
    + Vulnerability Mapping Notes

    Usage: PROHIBITED

    (this CWE ID must not be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)

    Reason: Category

    Rationale:

    This entry is a Category. Using categories for mapping has been discouraged since 2019. Categories are informal organizational groupings of weaknesses that can help CWE users with data aggregation, navigation, and browsing. However, they are not weaknesses in themselves.

    Comments:

    Consider mapping to weaknesses that are members of this Category.
    + Notes

    Maintenance

    This entry heavily overlaps other categories and has been marked obsolete.
    + Content History
    + Submissions
    Submission Date Submitter Organization
    2006-07-19
    (CWE Draft 3, 2006-07-19)
    PLOVER
    + Modifications
    Modification Date Modifier Organization
    2008-09-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Maintenance_Notes, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
    2011-03-29 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Observed_Examples
    2014-06-23 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2015-12-07 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2017-11-08 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Applicable_Platforms, Observed_Examples
    2018-03-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2019-06-20 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2020-02-24 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Maintenance_Notes, Relationships
    2020-08-20 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2023-01-31 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Maintenance_Notes
    2023-04-27 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    2023-06-29 CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Mapping_Notes
    2025-12-11
    (CWE 4.19, 2025-12-11)
    CWE Content Team MITRE
    updated Relationships
    Page Last Updated: January 21, 2026