CWE-779: Logging of Excessive Data

What is Logging of Excessive Data?

• Overview: Logging of Excessive Data (CWE-779) occurs when an application logs more information than necessary, which can clutter logs, making them difficult to analyze and potentially hide malicious activity.

• Exploitation Methods:

• Attackers can exploit excessive logging by hiding their activities among the large volume of log entries, making detection difficult.
• Common attack patterns include launching numerous benign-looking requests to fill logs and obfuscate malicious actions.

• Security Impact:

• Direct consequences include the inability to detect and respond to security incidents promptly.
• Potential cascading effects involve missed indicators of compromise, leading to prolonged undetected breaches.
• Business impact may include increased response times, higher costs for forensic analysis, and potential compliance violations due to inadequate auditing capabilities.

• Prevention Guidelines:

• Specific code-level fixes include reviewing log statements to ensure only essential information is logged and avoiding verbose logging in production environments.
• Security best practices involve implementing configurable logging levels, such as DEBUG, INFO, WARN, and ERROR, and ensuring sensitive information is never logged.
• Recommended tools and frameworks include using centralized logging solutions that support filtering and rate-limiting, and employing log analysis tools to monitor for anomalies.

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Technical Details

Likelihood of Exploit: Low

Affected Languages: Not Language-Specific

Affected Technologies: Not specified

Vulnerable Code Example

Python Example

import logging

def handle_request(request):
    # Simulating request handling
    user_data = {
        "username": request.get("username"),
        "password": request.get("password"),  # Sensitive information
        "email": request.get("email"),
        "session_id": request.get("session_id")
    }
    
    # Logging excessive data, including sensitive information
    logging.info(f"Handling request for user: {user_data}")  # Logging sensitive information

Explanation:

• Lines 9-11: This code logs the entire user_data dictionary, which contains sensitive information such as passwords and session IDs. Logging such data can lead to security risks if logs are accessed by unauthorized individuals. It's crucial to avoid logging sensitive data to prevent potential data breaches.

How to fix Logging of Excessive Data?

To mitigate the risk of logging excessive data, especially sensitive information:

1. Avoid Logging Sensitive Data: Always exclude sensitive information such as passwords, session tokens, and personal identifiers from logs.
2. Use Structured Logging: Log only the necessary information that is required for debugging or monitoring purposes.
3. Implement Access Controls: Ensure that logs are accessible only to authorized personnel.
4. Data Masking: If some sensitive data needs to be logged for debugging, consider masking or obfuscating it.

Fixed Code Example

import logging

def handle_request(request):
    # Simulating request handling
    user_data = {
        "username": request.get("username"),
        "password": request.get("password"),  # Sensitive information
        "email": request.get("email"),
        "session_id": request.get("session_id")
    }
    
    # Logging only non-sensitive information
    logging.info(f"Handling request for user: {user_data['username']}, email: {user_data['email']}")  # Logging non-sensitive data only

Explanation:

• Lines 9-14: The fixed code logs only the non-sensitive parts of the user_data, such as the username and email, while excluding the password and session_id. This ensures that sensitive information is not exposed in the logs. By focusing on logging only necessary information, we minimize the risk of sensitive data exposure and adhere to best practices for secure logging.