CWE-469 1 CVEs MITRE definition ↗

CWE-469: Use of Pointer Subtraction to Determine Size

Overview

CWE-469 (Use of Pointer Subtraction to Determine Size) documents a weakness type used across vulnerability databases and security assessments. Use the sections below for definition, context, and mapped CVEs.

Security impact
Security impact: Depends on product and context; use CVE records, severity scores, and MITRE guidance to prioritize.

Description

The product subtracts one pointer from another in order to determine size, but this calculation can be incorrect if the pointers do not exist in the same memory chunk.

Applicable platforms

Kind Name Class Prevalence OS / CPE
language C Undetermined
language C++ Undetermined

Related CVEs in this database

These CVEs are mapped to this weakness in this database and kept for traceability and search.

CVE Published Summary
CVE-2019-25595 2026-03-22 jetAudio 8.1.7.20702 Basic contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by supplying an excessively long string through the URL input handler. Attack…

Previous names

  • Improper Pointer Subtraction (2008-04-11)

Content submission

Name
CLASP
Date
2006-07-19
Version
Draft 3

Content modifications

Date Name Version Importance Comment
2008-07-01 Eric Dalci 1.0 updated Time_of_Introduction
2008-08-01 1.0 added/updated white box definitions
2008-09-08 CWE Content Team 1.0 updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings
2008-11-24 CWE Content Team 1.1 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011-06-01 CWE Content Team 1.13 updated Common_Consequences
2011-09-13 CWE Content Team 2.1 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2012-05-11 CWE Content Team 2.2 updated Relationships
2012-10-30 CWE Content Team 2.3 updated Demonstrative_Examples, Potential_Mitigations
2014-02-18 CWE Content Team 2.6 updated Potential_Mitigations
2014-06-23 CWE Content Team 2.7 updated Other_Notes
2014-07-30 CWE Content Team 2.8 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2017-11-08 CWE Content Team 3.0 updated Demonstrative_Examples, Taxonomy_Mappings, White_Box_Definitions
2019-01-03 CWE Content Team 3.2 updated Relationships
2020-02-24 CWE Content Team 4.0 updated References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2020-06-25 CWE Content Team 4.1 updated Common_Consequences
2021-03-15 CWE Content Team 4.4 updated Potential_Mitigations
2022-10-13 CWE Content Team 4.9 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2023-01-31 CWE Content Team 4.10 updated Description
2023-04-27 CWE Content Team 4.11 updated Detection_Factors, Relationships
2023-06-29 CWE Content Team 4.12 updated Mapping_Notes
2025-12-11 CWE Content Team 4.19 updated Weakness_Ordinalities
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