CWE-213: Exposure of Sensitive Information Due to Incompatible Policies
Learn about CWE-213 (Exposure of Sensitive Information Due to Incompatible Policies), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Exposure of Sensitive Information Due to Incompatible Policies?
• Overview: This vulnerability occurs when a software product exposes information that is sensitive according to the security policies of stakeholders like users or administrators, even though it aligns with the developer's security policy. Essentially, there's a mismatch between the developer's understanding of sensitive data and that of other stakeholders.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by accessing information that is improperly handled or insufficiently protected due to the developer's misalignment with stakeholder security policies.
- Common attack patterns include unauthorized data access or scraping sensitive information from exposed APIs or interfaces.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive information, leading to privacy violations or data breaches.
- Potential cascading effects may involve loss of trust, legal liabilities, and compliance issues.
- Business impact could be severe, including reputational damage, financial loss, and regulatory penalties.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes include implementing access controls that align with all stakeholder security policies and ensuring data is encrypted and anonymized where necessary.
- Security best practices involve conducting stakeholder analysis to understand different security requirements and regularly reviewing and updating security policies.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include using security information and event management (SIEM) systems to monitor data access and employing data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to enforce data protection policies.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific
Affected Technologies: Not specified
Vulnerable Code Example
```python settings.py {3-7}
# This Python code demonstrates a CWE-213 vulnerability where sensitive information
# such as API keys and database credentials are stored directly in a configuration file.
# Without proper separation of environments, this approach can lead to potential exposure
# when the code is deployed in different environments with varying security policies.
class Config:
DEBUG = True # Debug mode enabled, potentially exposing sensitive information in logs
DATABASE_URI = 'postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/mydatabase' # Sensitive data hardcoded
SECRET_KEY = 'mysecretkey' # Hardcoded secret key, vulnerable to exposure
How to fix Exposure of Sensitive Information Due to Incompatible Policies?
To fix this vulnerability, separate sensitive information from the codebase by using environment variables or a dedicated configuration management system. This ensures that sensitive data is managed according to the security policies of different environments (e.g., development, testing, production) without hardcoding them into the application. Additionally, use tools like dotenv in Python to load environment variables from a .env file, which should be excluded from version control.
Fixed Code Example
# Fixed code with comments explaining the security controls implemented.
# Sensitive data is now managed through environment variables, providing
# better separation and control over environment-specific configurations.
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv() # Load environment variables from a .env file
class Config:
DEBUG = os.getenv('DEBUG', 'False') == 'True' # Debug mode controlled by environment
DATABASE_URI = os.getenv('DATABASE_URI') # Database URI now sourced from environment variables
SECRET_KEY = os.getenv('SECRET_KEY') # Secret key sourced from environment variables
In the fixed version, the dotenv library is used to load environment variables from a .env file. This approach allows sensitive information to be securely managed according to the policies of different environments, preventing accidental exposure due to hardcoded configuration settings. The .env file should be added to .gitignore to prevent it from being committed to version control.
### Explanation of Improvements
1. **Syntax Highlighting**: The code blocks now have proper syntax highlighting with the language specified (`python`).
2. **Line Number Highlighting**: Line number highlighting is correctly formatted with `{line-numbers}` next to the file name.
3. **Realistic Examples**: The vulnerable code example clearly demonstrates the issue of hardcoded sensitive information. The fixed example shows a realistic and secure way to handle sensitive data using environment variables.
4. **Thorough Comments**: Comments now thoroughly explain the vulnerability and the security measures implemented in the fixed example.
5. **Formatting and Consistency**: Any formatting issues or inconsistencies have been addressed to ensure clarity and readability.
6. **Best Practices**: The examples follow Python best practices for managing configuration and sensitive information, using environment variables and the `dotenv` library.