CWE-201: Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent DataWeakness ID: 201 Vulnerability Mapping:
ALLOWEDThis CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities Abstraction: BaseBase - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. |
Description The code transmits data to another actor, but a portion of the data includes sensitive information that should not be accessible to that actor. Extended Description Sensitive information could include data that is sensitive in and of itself (such as credentials or private messages), or otherwise useful in the further exploitation of the system (such as internal file system structure). Relationships This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore. Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000) Nature | Type | ID | Name |
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ChildOf | Class - a weakness that is described in a very abstract fashion, typically independent of any specific language or technology. More specific than a Pillar Weakness, but more general than a Base Weakness. Class level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 1 or 2 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, and resource. | 200 | Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor | ParentOf | Variant - a weakness
that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 598 | Use of GET Request Method With Sensitive Query Strings | CanAlsoBe | Base - a weakness
that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 202 | Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Data Queries | CanAlsoBe | Base - a weakness
that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 209 | Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information | CanFollow | Base - a weakness
that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 212 | Improper Removal of Sensitive Information Before Storage or Transfer | CanFollow | Base - a weakness
that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource. | 226 | Sensitive Information in Resource Not Removed Before Reuse |
This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore. Relevant to the view "Software Development" (CWE-699) Nature | Type | ID | Name |
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MemberOf | Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 199 | Information Management Errors |
This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore. Relevant to the view "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008) Nature | Type | ID | Name |
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MemberOf | Category - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic. | 1015 | Limit Access |
Modes Of Introduction The different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.Phase | Note |
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Architecture and Design | | Implementation | REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic. |
Common Consequences This table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.Scope | Impact | Likelihood |
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Confidentiality
| Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories; Read Memory; Read Application Data Sensitive data may be exposed to attackers. | |
Demonstrative Examples Example 1 The following is an actual MySQL error statement: (result) Example Language: SQL
Warning: mysql_pconnect(): Access denied for user: 'root@localhost' (Using password: N1nj4) in /usr/local/www/wi-data/includes/database.inc on line 4
The error clearly exposes the database credentials. Observed Examples Reference | Description |
| Collaboration platform does not clear team emails in a response, allowing leak of email addresses |
Potential Mitigations
Phase: Requirements Specify which data in the software should be regarded as sensitive. Consider which types of users should have access to which types of data. |
Phase: Implementation Ensure that any possibly sensitive data specified in the requirements is verified with designers to ensure that it is either a calculated risk or mitigated elsewhere. Any information that is not necessary to the functionality should be removed in order to lower both the overhead and the possibility of security sensitive data being sent. |
Phase: System Configuration Setup default error messages so that unexpected errors do not disclose sensitive information. |
Phase: Architecture and Design Strategy: Separation of Privilege Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges. |
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.) |
Memberships This MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources. Vulnerability Mapping Notes Usage: ALLOWED (this CWE ID could be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities) | Reason: Acceptable-Use | Rationale: 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. | Comments: 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. |
Taxonomy Mappings Mapped Taxonomy Name | Node ID | Fit | Mapped Node Name |
CLASP | | | Accidental leaking of sensitive information through sent data |
References Content History Submissions |
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Submission Date | Submitter | Organization |
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2006-07-19 (CWE Draft 3, 2006-07-19) | CLASP | | | Modifications |
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Modification Date | Modifier | Organization |
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2008-07-01 | Eric Dalci | Cigital | updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction | 2008-09-08 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings | 2009-10-29 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations | 2010-09-27 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences, Description, Name | 2010-12-13 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences | 2011-06-01 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Common_Consequences | 2012-05-11 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2012-10-30 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Potential_Mitigations | 2013-02-21 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Potential_Mitigations | 2014-02-18 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Related_Attack_Patterns | 2014-07-30 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships | 2017-01-19 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Related_Attack_Patterns | 2017-11-08 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Applicable_Platforms, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships | 2020-02-24 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Name, References, Relationships, Type | 2020-08-20 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Description, Name | 2020-12-10 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Potential_Mitigations | 2021-10-28 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Relationships | 2022-10-13 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Observed_Examples | 2023-04-27 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Detection_Factors, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction | 2023-06-29 | CWE Content Team | MITRE | updated Mapping_Notes | Previous Entry Names |
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Change Date | Previous Entry Name |
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2010-09-27 | Information Leak Through Sent Data | | 2020-02-24 | Information Exposure Through Sent Data | | 2020-08-20 | Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Sent Data | |
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