CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

Description

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

There are many different kinds of mistakes that introduce information exposures. The severity of the error can range widely, depending on the context in which the product operates, the type of sensitive information that is revealed, and the benefits it may provide to an attacker. Some kinds of sensitive information include: Information might be sensitive to different parties, each of which may have their own expectations for whether the information should be protected. These parties include: Information exposures can occur in different ways: It is common practice to describe any loss of confidentiality as an "information exposure," but this can lead to overuse of CWE-200 in CWE mapping. From the CWE perspective, loss of confidentiality is a technical impact that can arise from dozens of different weaknesses, such as insecure file permissions or out-of-bounds read. CWE-200 and its lower-level descendants are intended to cover the mistakes that occur in behaviors that explicitly manage, store, transfer, or cleanse sensitive information.

Potential Impact

Demonstrative Examples

my $username=param('username');
                  my $password=param('password');
                  
                  if (IsValidUsername($username) == 1)
                  {
                  if (IsValidPassword($username, $password) == 1)
                  {
                  print "Login Successful";
                  }
                  else
                  {
                  print "Login Failed - incorrect password";
                  }
                  }
                  else
                  {
                  print "Login Failed - unknown username";
                  }

"Login Failed - incorrect username or password"

try {openDbConnection();}
                     //print exception message that includes exception message and configuration file location
                     catch (Exception $e) {echo 'Caught exception: ', $e->getMessage(), '\n';echo 'Check credentials in config file at: ', $Mysql_config_location, '\n';}

public BankAccount getUserBankAccount(String username, String accountNumber) {
                        BankAccount userAccount = null;String query = null;try {if (isAuthorizedUser(username)) {query = "SELECT * FROM accounts WHERE owner = "+ username + " AND accountID = " + accountNumber;DatabaseManager dbManager = new DatabaseManager();Connection conn = dbManager.getConnection();Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();ResultSet queryResult = stmt.executeQuery(query);userAccount = (BankAccount)queryResult.getObject(accountNumber);}} catch (SQLException ex) {String logMessage = "Unable to retrieve account information from database,\nquery: " + query;Logger.getLogger(BankManager.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, logMessage, ex);}return userAccount;
                     }

locationClient = new LocationClient(this, this, this);locationClient.connect();currentUser.setLocation(locationClient.getLastLocation());
                     ...
                     
                     catch (Exception e) {AlertDialog.Builder builder = new AlertDialog.Builder(this);builder.setMessage("Sorry, this application has experienced an error.");AlertDialog alert = builder.create();alert.show();Log.e("ExampleActivity", "Caught exception: " + e + " While on User:" + User.toString());}

Mitigations & Prevention

Detection Methods

• Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode SOAR Partial — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
• Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
• Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation SOAR Partial — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
• Manual Static Analysis - Source Code High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
• Automated Static Analysis - Source Code High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
• Architecture or Design Review High — According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:

Real-World CVE Examples

Showing 15 of 19 observed examples.

Related Weaknesses

Taxonomy Mappings

• PLOVER: — Information Leak (information disclosure)
• OWASP Top Ten 2007: A6 — Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling
• WASC: 13 — Information Leakage