Cryptographic Failures occupy the fourth spot in OWASP’s Top 10 for 2025, reflecting persistent weaknesses in how software handles encryption, key management, and secure data transmission. For federal agencies, these failures can result in unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data, breaches of national security, and loss of public trust. The risks are amplified as mission systems and citizen services transition to cloud-native, distributed, and hybrid architectures.
What are Cryptographic Failures?
Cryptographic failures arise when applications do not properly encrypt sensitive data, use outdated or weak algorithms, mishandle keys, or transmit confidential information insecurely. These failures are often the root cause of sensitive data exposure, making it easier for adversaries to intercept, manipulate, and exploit mission-critical assets.
Common Examples
- Use of broken or deprecated encryption algorithms such as MD5, SHA-1, and RC4
- Transmission of credentials or PII over unencrypted channels (HTTP instead of HTTPS)
- Hard-coded cryptographic keys or certificates embedded in source code or repositories
- Poor password storage practices (unsalted hashes, weak iterations)
- Misconfigured SSL/TLS that fails to properly validate certificates or enforce secure negotiation
Federal Impact and Compliance Focus
For the federal sector, cryptographic failures can mean non-compliance with mandates such as FIPS 140-2, NIST, and CISA encryption advisories. Attacks exploiting these weaknesses may result in the exposure of classified information, compromise of identity systems, and operational disruption. Federal agencies must ensure robust cryptographic governance and regular updates across their entire technology stack.
Key Technical Weaknesses
CWE Reference | Example Flaws |
CWE-327 | Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm |
CWE-331, CWE-338 | Insufficient Entropy, Weak Pseudo-Random Number Generation |
CWE-295 | Improper Certificate Validation |
CWE-321 | Hard-Coded Cryptographic Key |
CWE-916 | Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort |
CWE-757 | Algorithm Downgrade Attacks |
Visual: Cryptographic Failure Scenarios
Failure Type | Exploitability | Federal Impact |
Weak encryption algorithm | High, automated | Data theft, credential compromise |
Insecure data transmission | Moderate, MITM | Intercepted communications, identity fraud |
Poor key management | High, focused | Loss of system control, supply chain exposure |
Invalid certificate checks | Moderate, phishing | Malicious access, session hijacking |
Practical Steps for Federal Environments
- Update Legacy Systems: Inventory all cryptographic protocols and algorithms in use; migrate to FIPS 140-2 validated and NIST-recommended standards.
- Enforce Secure Transmission: Mandate TLS 1.3 across all public-facing and internal services.
- Key Management Hygiene: Use centralized hardware security modules (HSMs) for key generation, rotation, and storage; eliminate hard-coded secrets in code and configuration.
- Automated Checks and Testing: Integrate static and dynamic analysis tools from RavenTek’s partners to scan codebases for cryptographic errors and policy violations.
- Continuous Monitoring: Deploy monitoring frameworks for certificate expiry, negotiation failures, and unauthorized cryptographic changes.
- Educate Development Teams: Conduct regular training workshops to ensure cryptographic libraries and APIs are used correctly.
- Patch Rapidly: Apply updates to libraries and frameworks at the first sign of cryptographic vulnerability disclosure.
How RavenTek and Partners Help
RavenTek partners with encryption, PKI, and key management solution leaders to assist federal agencies in implementing, verifying, and maintaining strong cryptographic controls. Our experts conduct audits, automate compliance checks, and deliver tailored remediation for agency-specific environments.
Fortify Your Agency Against Cryptographic Failure
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