CWE · MITRE source
CWE-1391Use of Weak Credentials
The product uses weak credentials (such as a default key or hard-coded password) that can be calculated, derived, reused, or guessed by an attacker.
By design, authentication protocols try to ensure that attackers must perform brute force attacks if they do not know the credentials such as a key or password. However, when these credentials are easily predictable or even fixed (as with default or hard-coded passwords and keys), then the attacker can defeat the mechanism without relying on brute force. Credentials may be weak for different reasons, such as: Even if a new, unique credential is intended to be generated for each product installation, if the generation is predictable, then that may also simplify guessing attacks.
Last updated: 04 July 2026 00:28 UTC
Cumulative inbound coverage
How completely the frameworks we cross-walk collectively cover this — the verdict is the strongest single mapping (overlapping partials are not summed); breadth shows the corroboration behind it.
Collective: mostly · 23 mapping(s) from 7 framework(s): ATT&CK 7 (mostly) · CSF 2.0 6 (mostly) · ASVS 5.0 4 (mostly) · STIG oracle linux 8 3 (partial) · OWASP-Web 1 (mostly) · STIG rhel 7 1 (partial) · STIG rhel 8 1 (partial)
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
This weakness contributes to A07:2025 Authentication Failures.
NIST 800-53 r5 controls that address this weakness (2)AI
| Control | Title | Family | Why it addresses this CWE |
|---|---|---|---|
IA-5 | Authenticator Management | IA | Ensuring sufficient strength of mechanism for authenticators prevents use of weak credentials. |
IA-7 | Cryptographic Module Authentication | IA | Enforces use of credentials that comply with standards rather than weak credentials for module access. |
MITRE ATT&CK techniques this weakness enables
Our own two-way CWE↔ATT&CK cross-walk — a direct mapping with no public source (the CWE→CAPEC→ATT&CK chain leaves most top weaknesses, incl. XSS and SQLi, mapped to nothing). Drafted by Grok and spot-checked by Claude Opus 4.8.
Direction: ← other covers this;
→ this covers other (F/M/P = full / mostly /
partial).
Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority
| CVE | Risk | CVSS | EPSS | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CVE-2024-43698 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0043 | 2024-10-22 |
CVE-2024-12728 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0093 | 2024-12-19 |
CVE-2024-51978 UPD | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.2364 | 2025-06-25 |
CVE-2025-6077 UPD | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0069 | 2025-08-02 |
CVE-2025-30519 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0041 | 2025-09-18 |
CVE-2026-22886 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0040 | 2026-03-03 |
CVE-2025-67114 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0052 | 2026-03-19 |
CVE-2026-39920 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 0.0054 | 2026-04-24 |
CVE-2026-44351 UPD | 7.0 | 9.1 | 0.0024 | 2026-05-13 |
CVE-2023-31240 | 5.5 | 8.3 | 0.0054 | 2023-05-22 |
CVE-2023-0635 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 0.0037 | 2023-06-05 |
CVE-2022-3010 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.0049 | 2024-01-02 |
CVE-2023-48257 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 0.0054 | 2024-01-10 |
CVE-2024-29071 UPD | 5.5 | 8.8 | 0.0036 | 2024-03-25 |
CVE-2024-28066 UPD | 5.5 | 8.8 | 0.0045 | 2024-04-08 |
CVE-2024-42051 | 5.5 | 7.8 | 0.0015 | 2024-07-28 |
CVE-2024-40892 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 0.0092 | 2024-08-12 |
CVE-2024-7558 | 5.5 | 8.7 | 0.0050 | 2024-10-02 |
CVE-2024-45272 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.0060 | 2024-10-15 |
CVE-2024-45722 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.0047 | 2024-12-06 |
CVE-2024-43659 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 0.0083 | 2025-01-09 |
CVE-2024-52331 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.0021 | 2025-01-23 |
CVE-2025-2229 | 5.5 | 7.7 | 0.0012 | 2025-03-13 |
CVE-2025-52364 UPD | 5.5 | 7.5 | 0.0051 | 2025-07-09 |
CVE-2025-6523 UPD | 5.5 | 7.7 | 0.0039 | 2025-07-22 |