Top 25 Dangerous coding errors revealed

The US National Security Agency has helped put together a list of the world's most dangerous coding mistakes.
The 25 entry list contains errors that can lead to security holes or vulnerable areas that can be targeted by cyber criminals.
Experts say many of these errors are not well understood by programmers.
According to the SANS Institute in Maryland, just two of theerrors led to more than 1.5m web site security breaches during 2008.
It is thought that this is the first time theindustry has reached agreement on the worst things that can creep intosoftware as it is being written.
More than 30 organisations, including the US National SecurityAgency, the Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft, and Symantecpublished the document.
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                             THE TOP 25 MOST DANGEROUS PROGRAMMING ERRORS


CWE-20:Improper Input Validation
CWE-116:Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
CWE-89:Failure to Preserve SQL Query Structure
CWE-79:Failure to Preserve Web Page Structure
CWE-78:Failure to Preserve OS Command Structure
CWE-319:Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
CWE-352:Cross-Site Request Forgery
CWE-362:Race Condition
CWE-209:Error Message Information Leak
CWE-119:Failure to Constrain Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CWE-642:External Control of Critical State Data
CWE-73:External Control of File Name or Path
CWE-426:Untrusted Search Path
CWE-94:Failure to Control Generation of Code
CWE-494:Download of Code Without Integrity Check
CWE-404:Improper Resource Shutdown or Release
CWE-665:Improper Initialization
CWE-682:Incorrect Calculation
CWE-285:Improper Access Control
CWE-327:Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
CWE-259:Hard-Coded Password
CWE-732:Insecure Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
CWE-330:Use of Insufficiently Random Values
CWE-250:Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
CWE-602:Client-Side Enforcement of Server-Side Security
Source: SANS Institute

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"The top 25 list gives developers a minimum set of coding errorsthat must be eradicated before software is used by customers," saidChris Wysopal, chief technology officer with Veracode.
"There appears to be broad agreement on the programming errors," says SANS director, Mason Brown, "Now it is time to fix them."
"We need to make sure every programmer knows how to write code that is free of the top 25 errors."
"Then we need to make sure every programming team has processesin place to find and fix these problems [in existing code] and has thetools needed to verify their code is as free of these errors," he said.
Patrick Lincoln, director of the Computer Science Laboratory atSRI International, told the BBC that if programmers prevented theseerrors appearing in their code, it would deter the majority of hackers.
"This list is primarily for people who have firstresponsibility for designing a system. Veteran programmers haveprobably learnt the hard way whereas a brand new programmer will bemaking more basic errors."
"The real dedicated serial attacker will probably find a way ineven if all these errors were removed. But a high school hacker withmalicious intent - ankle-biters if you will - would be deterred frombreaking in."
Previously, most advice has focused on vulnerabilities that canresult from programming errors. The top 25 list examines the actualprogramming errors themselves.
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, theprincipal adviser to the President, the National Security Council andthe Homeland Security Council also lent their support to the list.
In a statement, they said: "We believe that integrity of hardware and software products is a critical for cyber security. "
"Creating more secure software is a fundamental aspect of systemand network security, given that the federal government and thenation's critical infrastructure depend on commercial products forbusiness operations."
"The top 25 is an important component of an overall securityinitiative for our country. We applaud this effort and encourage theutility of this tool through other venues such as cyber education."
http://www.sans.org/top25errors/

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Which People and Organizations Made Substantive Contributions to the Top 25 Errors List?

How Will the Top 25 Errors Be Used?

How Important Are the Top 25 Errors?

What Errors Are Included in the Top 25?

Resources to Help Organizations Eliminate The Errors</ui>