CWE-359: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor

What is Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor?

• Overview: Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor (CWE-359) occurs when a software application fails to adequately protect personal data, allowing access by unauthorized parties without explicit permission or consent from the data subject.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by accessing improperly secured data endpoints or APIs.
• Common attack patterns include exploiting weak authentication mechanisms, accessing unsecured databases, and intercepting data in transit.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include unauthorized access to sensitive personal information, leading to privacy violations.
• Potential cascading effects could involve identity theft, financial fraud, and reputational damage to individuals and organizations.
• Business impact includes legal liabilities, regulatory fines, loss of customer trust, and potential financial losses.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Implement strong authentication and authorization controls to verify user identity and permissions.
• Follow security best practices such as encrypting sensitive data both at rest and in transit, and applying least privilege principles.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using secure coding libraries, employing data masking techniques, and conducting regular security audits and penetration testing.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Mobile

Vulnerable Code Example

Certainly! Let's improve the content while addressing the identified issues:

# Vulnerable code that exposes user's personal information to unauthorized actors
from flask import Flask, jsonify, request

app = Flask(__name__)

# Dummy user data
users = {
    "alice": {"email": "alice@example.com", "password": "alice123"},
    "bob": {"email": "bob@example.com", "password": "bob123"}
}

@app.route('/user/<username>', methods=['GET'])
def get_user(username):
    # This function exposes sensitive user data without checking if the requester is authorized
    if username in users:
        return jsonify(users[username])  # Sensitive data exposed here
    return jsonify({"error": "User not found"}), 404

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Explanation of the Vulnerability

The vulnerable code above directly exposes sensitive user information, such as email and password, without verifying if the requester is authorized to access this data. This could lead to unauthorized actors gaining access to private information, violating user privacy and security.

How to fix Exposure of Private Personal Information to an Unauthorized Actor?

To fix this vulnerability, implement proper access control checks to ensure sensitive information is only accessible by authorized users. This involves:

1. Authentication Check: Verify the requester has a valid session or token.
2. Authorization Check: Ensure the requester has permission to view the requested data.
3. Data Sanitization: Avoid exposing sensitive information such as passwords in API responses.

Fixed Code Example

from flask import Flask, jsonify, request, abort

app = Flask(__name__)

# Dummy user data
users = {
    "alice": {"email": "alice@example.com", "password": "alice123"},
    "bob": {"email": "bob@example.com", "password": "bob123"}
}

# Mock authentication function
def is_authenticated():
    # In real applications, check request headers for a valid token/session
    auth_token = request.headers.get('Authorization')
    return auth_token == "valid_token"

@app.route('/user/<username>', methods=['GET'])
def get_user(username):
    # Implementing authentication check to protect sensitive data
    if not is_authenticated():
        abort(401, description="Unauthorized access")

    # Avoid exposing sensitive information like passwords
    if username in users:
        user_info = users[username].copy()
        user_info.pop("password", None)
        return jsonify(user_info)
    return jsonify({"error": "User not found"}), 404

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.run(debug=True)

Explanation of the Fix

In the fixed code, an authentication check is implemented to ensure that only requests with a valid authorization token can access user data. Additionally, sensitive information such as passwords is removed from the response to prevent exposure. These changes help secure user data against unauthorized access, enhancing the privacy and security of the application.