CWE · MITRE source
CWE-363Race Condition Enabling Link Following
The product checks the status of a file or directory before accessing it, which produces a race condition in which the file can be replaced with a link before the access is performed, causing the product to access the wrong file.
While developers might expect that there is a very narrow time window between the time of check and time of use, there is still a race condition. An attacker could cause the product to slow down (e.g. with memory consumption), causing the time window to become larger. Alternately, in some situations, the attacker could win the race by performing a large number of attacks.
Last updated: 20 August 2026 13:14 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: partial · 1 mapping(s) from 1 framework(s): CAPEC 1 (partial)
Control responseHuman-reviewed
Answering this weakness across the control lifecycle, from our framework cross-walks.
NIST 800-53 r5 controls that address this weakness (0)AI-assisted
| Control | Title | Family | Why it addresses this CWE |
|---|---|---|---|
| No NIST controls proposed yet. | |||
Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority
| CVE | Risk | CVSS | EPSS | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CVE-2025-62161 | 7.2 | 10.0 | 0.0024 | 2025-11-06 |
CVE-2025-62596 | 7.1 | 10.0 | 0.0025 | 2025-11-06 |
CVE-2024-27102 UPD | 7.0 | 9.9 | 0.0055 | 2024-03-13 |
CVE-2025-31133 UPD | 5.7 | 7.8 | 0.0084 | 2025-11-06 |
CVE-2022-21658 UPD | 5.6 | 7.3 | 0.0138 | 2022-01-20 |
CVE-2025-52565 UPD | 5.4 | 7.5 | 0.0056 | 2025-11-06 |
CVE-2025-52881 UPD | 5.4 | 7.5 | 0.0052 | 2025-11-06 |
CVE-2025-13492 | 4.9 | 7.0 | 0.0008 | 2025-12-03 |
CVE-2018-6693 UPD | 4.0 | 5.3 | 0.0018 | 2018-09-18 |
CVE-2024-45310 UPD | 3.0 | 3.6 | 0.0032 | 2024-09-03 |