CWE · MITRE source
CWE-822Untrusted Pointer Dereference
The product obtains a value from an untrusted source, converts this value to a pointer, and dereferences the resulting pointer.
An attacker can supply a pointer for memory locations that the product is not expecting. If the pointer is dereferenced for a write operation, the attack might allow modification of critical state variables, cause a crash, or execute code. If the dereferencing operation is for a read, then the attack might allow reading of sensitive data, cause a crash, or set a variable to an unexpected value (since the value will be read from an unexpected memory location). There are several variants of this weakness, including but not necessarily limited to:
Last updated: 15 October 2026 14:21 UTC
Control responseHuman-reviewed
Answering this weakness across the control lifecycle, from our framework cross-walks.
NIST 800-53 r5 controls PROPOSED for this weakness (0)AI-assisted
These are model PROPOSALS, not graded mappings. They come
from controls_to_cwe_proposals, which carries no grade field at
all; across the CWE pages 1,540 of 1,722 such associations (89%) have never
been graded by anything. The heading said “address” until
2026-09-29, which asserted a relationship the data does not carry.
Graded cross-walks are on the framework map, not here.
| 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-2023-29360 KEV UPD | 8.9 | 8.4 | 0.2162 | 2023-06-14 |
CVE-2023-36033 KEV UPD | 8.5 | 7.8 | 0.1095 | 2023-11-14 |
CVE-2024-21338 KEV UPD | 8.5 | 7.8 | 0.5981 | 2024-02-13 |
CVE-2024-35250 KEV UPD | 8.5 | 7.8 | 0.2522 | 2024-06-11 |
CVE-2025-24990 KEV UPD | 8.5 | 7.8 | 0.0637 | 2025-10-14 |
CVE-2023-21768 UPD | 8.3 | 7.8 | 0.6542 | 2023-01-10 |
CVE-2025-50165 UPD | 8.2 | 9.8 | 0.1046 | 2025-08-12 |
CVE-2018-17893 UPD | 8.0 | 9.8 | 0.0638 | 2018-10-17 |
CVE-2018-7497 UPD | 7.8 | 9.8 | 0.0284 | 2018-05-15 |
CVE-2018-14811 UPD | 7.8 | 9.8 | 0.0358 | 2018-09-26 |
CVE-2023-1437 UPD | 7.8 | 9.8 | 0.0280 | 2023-08-02 |
CVE-2018-12548 UPD | 7.5 | 9.8 | 0.0113 | 2019-01-31 |
CVE-2026-70300 | 7.5 | 9.8 | 0.0098 | 2026-10-13 |
CVE-2026-96924 | 7.5 | 9.8 | 0.0089 | 2026-10-13 |
CVE-2026-103764 | 7.4 | 9.8 | 0.0064 | 2026-10-02 |
CVE-2020-26991 UPD | 7.1 | 8.8 | 0.0416 | 2021-01-12 |
CVE-2020-27259 UPD | 7.0 | 8.8 | 0.0267 | 2021-02-09 |
CVE-2026-48137 | 7.0 | 9.1 | 0.0080 | 2026-06-19 |
CVE-2024-38104 UPD | 6.9 | 8.8 | 0.0182 | 2024-07-09 |
CVE-2024-37339 UPD | 6.9 | 8.8 | 0.0162 | 2024-09-10 |
CVE-2024-37340 UPD | 6.9 | 8.8 | 0.0162 | 2024-09-10 |
CVE-2024-43624 | 6.9 | 8.8 | 0.0185 | 2024-11-12 |
CVE-2025-1255 UPD | 6.8 | 9.1 | 0.0037 | 2025-09-23 |
CVE-2025-4993 UPD | 6.8 | 9.1 | 0.0037 | 2025-09-23 |
CVE-2025-62549 UPD | 6.8 | 8.8 | 0.0132 | 2025-12-09 |