Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-1079

Weakness Allowed

Parent Class without Virtual Destructor Method

Abstraction: Base · Status: Incomplete

A parent class contains one or more child classes, but the parent class does not have a virtual destructor method.

Mapping guidance

This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

Relationships and members
ChildOf: CWE-1076 · 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 Relationships

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

updated Mapping_Notes

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

updated Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Description, Detection_Factors, Time_of_Introduction

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

updated 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.