CWE-258: Empty Password in Configuration File

What is Empty Password in Configuration File?

• Overview: CWE-258 refers to the practice of using an empty string as a password in a configuration file, which leaves the system unprotected and easily accessible to unauthorized users.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can gain unauthorized access by simply leaving the password field blank when attempting to log in.
• Common attack patterns involve automated scripts that try to log in using empty passwords across multiple accounts or systems.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems.
• Potential cascading effects include data breaches, unauthorized data manipulation, and further exploitation of interconnected systems.
• Business impact can involve loss of customer trust, legal ramifications, financial losses, and damage to the company's reputation.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include ensuring configuration files require non-empty, complex passwords.
• Security best practices involve enforcing strong password policies, regular audits of configuration files, and implementing multi-factor authentication.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using password managers, configuration management tools that enforce security policies, and automated vulnerability scanners to detect and alert on insecure configurations.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: High

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

// Vulnerable code: Using an empty string as a password is insecure and can be easily exploited by attackers

const dbConfig = {
    host: 'localhost',
    user: 'admin',
    password: '',  // Vulnerable: Empty password allows unauthorized access
    database: 'app_db'
};

How to fix Empty Password in Configuration File?

To secure your application from vulnerabilities like CWE-258, follow these best practices:

1. Environment Variables: Use environment variables to manage sensitive information outside of your source code.
2. Secrets Management: Employ secrets management tools like AWS Secrets Manager or Azure Key Vault for secure handling of credentials.
3. Password Validation: Implement runtime checks to ensure passwords are not empty and meet security criteria.
4. Error Handling: Provide explicit error handling to alert when insecure configurations are detected.

By adopting these strategies, you can enhance the security of your application's configuration and prevent unauthorized access.

Fixed Code Example

const dotenv = require('dotenv');
dotenv.config();

// Fixed code: Use environment variables for secure password management
const dbConfig = {
    host: 'localhost',
    user: 'admin',
    password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD,  // Secure: Fetch password from environment variable
    database: 'app_db'
};

// Ensure password is not empty and meets security criteria
if (!dbConfig.password || dbConfig.password.trim() === '') {
    throw new Error("Database password must be set and cannot be empty.");  // Validate password presence
}

These examples demonstrate how to fix the Empty Password in Configuration File vulnerability by using environment variables and validation checks to ensure security.