CWE-1230: Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Metadata

What is Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Metadata?

• Overview: Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Metadata occurs when a product restricts access to sensitive data but does not adequately control access to metadata derived from it, potentially allowing attackers to extract or infer sensitive information.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by accessing metadata that contains information about sensitive data.
• Common attack patterns include querying search indices with unique terms, examining metadata for timestamps, and analyzing activity logs to infer details about the sensitive data.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.
• Potential cascading effects include enabling further targeted attacks or data breaches.
• Business impact may involve loss of customer trust, regulatory fines, and damage to the brand's reputation.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Implement strict access controls for metadata, similar to those used for the actual sensitive data.
• Conduct regular audits of metadata to ensure it does not expose sensitive information.
• Use encryption and anonymization techniques for metadata that could potentially reveal sensitive data.
• Employ tools and frameworks that automatically manage and restrict metadata access, ensuring they are part of the security assessment.

Corgea can automatically detect and fix Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Metadata in your codebase. [Try Corgea free today](https://corgea.app).

Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

import json

def generate_metadata(document):
    # Simulating metadata generation based on document content
    metadata = {
        "title": document.get('title'),
        "author": document.get('author'),
        "keywords": document.get('keywords'),
        "sensitive_info": document.get('sensitive_info'),  # Exposing sensitive data in metadata
    }
    return json.dumps(metadata)

document = {
    "title": "Confidential Report",
    "author": "John Doe",
    "keywords": ["confidential", "internal"],
    "sensitive_info": "Top Secret"  # Sensitive information
}

metadata = generate_metadata(document)
print(metadata)  # Sensitive information exposed in metadata

Explanation

In this vulnerable example, the generate_metadata function includes sensitive information (sensitive_info) in the metadata dictionary. By directly adding sensitive data to metadata, which is often shared or stored in less secure environments, there is a risk of unauthorized exposure of sensitive information.

How to fix Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Metadata?

To address this vulnerability, sensitive information should be excluded from metadata creation. Only non-sensitive information should be included in metadata. Sensitive data should be identified, handled securely, and excluded from metadata operations to adhere to the principle of least privilege.

Fixed Code Example

import json

def generate_metadata(document):
    # Simulating metadata generation with sensitive information excluded
    metadata = {
        "title": document.get('title'),
        "author": document.get('author'),
        "keywords": document.get('keywords'),
        # Removed sensitive_info from metadata to prevent exposure
    }
    return json.dumps(metadata)

document = {
    "title": "Confidential Report",
    "author": "John Doe",
    "keywords": ["confidential", "internal"],
    "sensitive_info": "Top Secret"  # Sensitive information
}

metadata = generate_metadata(document)
print(metadata)  # Now only non-sensitive information is exposed

Explanation

In the fixed example, the sensitive_info field is no longer included in the metadata dictionary. This change ensures that sensitive information is not exposed when metadata is shared or stored. By adhering to security best practices, we reduce the risk of sensitive information being inadvertently exposed.