CWE-558
Use of getlogin() in Multithreaded Application
AI Translation Available
The product uses the getlogin() function in a multithreaded context, potentially causing it to return incorrect values.
Status
draft
Abstraction
variant
Affected Platforms
C
C++
Extended Description
AI Translation
The getlogin() function returns a pointer to a string that contains the name of the user associated with the calling process. The function is not reentrant, meaning that if it is called from another process, the contents are not locked out and the value of the string can be changed by another process. This makes it very risky to use because the username can be changed by other processes, so the results of the function cannot be trusted.
Technical Details
AI Translation
Common Consequences
integrity
access control
other
Impacts
modify application data
bypass protection mechanism
other
Detection Methods
automated static analysis
Potential Mitigations
Phases:
architecture and design
implementation
Descriptions:
•
Use getlogin_r() instead, which is reentrant, meaning that other processes are locked out from changing the username.
•
Using names for security purposes is not advised. Names are easy to forge and can have overlapping user IDs, potentially causing confusion or impersonation.