Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-1054

Weakness Prohibited

Invocation of a Control Element at an Unnecessarily Deep Horizontal Layer

Abstraction: Base · Status: Incomplete

The code at one architectural layer invokes code that resides at a deeper layer than the adjacent layer, i.e., the invocation skips at least one layer, and the invoked code is not part of a vertical utility layer that can be referenced from any horizontal layer.

Mapping guidance

This entry is primarily a quality issue with no direct security implications.

Look for weaknesses that are focused specifically on insecure behaviors that have more direct security implications.

Relationships and members
ChildOf: CWE-1061 · View CWE-1000
Modes of introduction
Implementation
Detection methods

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Effectiveness: High

Content history
Submission: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2018-07-02 · CWE 3.2

Entry derived from Common Quality Enumeration (CQE) Draft 0.9.

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2020-02-24 · CWE 4.0

updated Relationships

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2020-08-20 · CWE 4.2

updated Relationships

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-01-31 · CWE 4.10

updated Description

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-04-27 · CWE 4.11

updated References, Relationships

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2023-06-29 · CWE 4.12

updated Mapping_Notes

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2024-02-29 · CWE 4.14

updated Mapping_Notes

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2025-12-11 · CWE 4.19

updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Description, Time_of_Introduction

Modification: CWE Content Team · MITRE · 2026-10-28 · CWE 5.0

updated Detection_Factors, References

0 vulnerabilities reference this CWE, most recent first.

No vulnerabilities reference this CWE.

No mitigation information available for this CWE.

No CAPEC attack patterns related to this CWE.