A08: Software and Data Integrity Failures · 2021

Software, data, updates or pipelines are accepted without verifying integrity or provenance, allowing unauthorized changes and execution of tampered artifacts.

Summary

Software, data, updates or pipelines are accepted without verifying integrity or provenance, allowing unauthorized changes and execution of tampered artifacts.

How the attack works

An application downloads and installs an update without checking its signature; a replaced file runs as trusted software.

Example

Vulnerable · Pseudocode

update = download(update_url)
install(update)

Fix: Verify the signature with a trusted key before installing.

Prevention

Sign and verify artifacts, updates and critical data.
Protect CI/CD and separate build, approval and deployment responsibilities.
Avoid untrusted sources and maintain change traceability.

Lineage

2017 · A8: Insecure Deserialization Expanded into a new category
2021 · A08: Software and Data Integrity Failures New and expanded from Insecure Deserialization
2025 · A08: Software or Data Integrity Failures Continues at rank 8

2017:A8 → 2021:A08: Insecure Deserialization becomes a broader integrity category.
2021:A08 → 2025:A08: The category continues at rank 8 with a minor name adjustment.

Sources

Open official source ↗

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