CWE-683: Function Call With Incorrect Order of Arguments

Description

The product calls a function, procedure, or routine, but the caller specifies the arguments in an incorrect order, leading to resultant weaknesses.

While this weakness might be caught by the compiler in some languages, it can occur more frequently in cases in which the called function accepts variable numbers or types of arguments, such as format strings in C. It also can occur in languages or environments that do not enforce strong typing.

Potential Impact

Demonstrative Examples

function authenticate($username, $password) {
                        
                           
                           // authenticate user
                           ...
                     }
                     authenticate($_POST['password'], $_POST['username']);

Mitigations & Prevention

Detection Methods

• Automated Analysis — Because this function call often produces incorrect behavior, it will usually be detected during testing or normal operation of the product.
• Automated Analysis — Exercising all possible control paths will typically expose this weakness, except in rare cases when the incorrect function call accidentally produces the correct results, or if the provided argument type is very similar to the expected argument type.

Real-World CVE Examples

Related Weaknesses