Chi tiết CWE-526

CWE-526

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable
2006-07-19
00h00 +00:00
Incomplete
2026-10-28
00h00 +00:00
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Quản lý thông báo

Tên: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable

The product uses an environment variable to store unencrypted sensitive information.

Thông tin chung

Các cách xuất hiện

Architecture and Design
Implementation
Operation

Nền tảng áp dụng

Ngôn ngữ

Lớp: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)

Hậu quả phổ biến

Phạm vi Tác động Khả năng xảy ra
ConfidentialityRead Application Data

Ghi chú: Information stored in an environment variable might be accessible by other processes with the execution context, including child processes that dependencies are executed in, or serverless functions in cloud environments. An environment variable's contents can also be inserted into messages, headers, log files, or other outputs. Often these other dependencies have no need to use the environment variable in question. A weakness that discloses environment variables could expose this information.

Ví dụ đã quan sát

Tài liệu tham khảo Mô tả

CVE-2022-43691

CMS shows sensitive server-side information from environment variables when run in Debug mode.

CVE-2022-27195

Plugin for an automation server inserts environment variable contents into build XML files.

CVE-2022-25264

CI/CD tool logs environment variables related to passwords add Contribution to content history.

Các biện pháp giảm thiểu tiềm năng

Phases : Architecture and Design
Encrypt information stored in the environment variable to protect it from being exposed to an unauthorized user. If encryption is not feasible or is considered too expensive for the business use of the application, then consider using a properly protected configuration file instead of an environment variable. It should be understood that unencrypted information in a config file is also not guaranteed to be protected, but it is still a better choice, because it reduces attack surface related to weaknesses such as CWE-214. In some settings, vaults might be a feasible option for safer data transfer. Users should be notified of the business choice made to not protect the sensitive information through encryption.
Phases : Implementation
If the environment variable is not necessary for the desired behavior, then remove it entirely, or clear it to an empty value.

Phương pháp phát hiện

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)
Hiệu quả : High

Ghi chú ánh xạ lỗ hổng

Lý do : This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Bình luận : Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

Tài liệu tham khảo

REF-1318

Analyzing the Hidden Danger of Environment Variables for Keeping Secrets
David Fiser, Alfredo Oliveira.
https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/h/analyzing-hidden-danger-of-environment-variables-for-keeping-secrets.html

REF-1319

Using environment variables is security-sensitive
Nicolas Harraudeau.
https://sonarsource.atlassian.net/browse/RSPEC-5304

Gửi

Tên Tổ chức Ngày Ngày phát hành Version
CWE Community 2006-07-19 +00:00 2006-07-19 +00:00 Draft 3

Sửa đổi

Tên Tổ chức Ngày Bình luận
Eric Dalci Cigital 2008-07-01 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
CWE Content Team MITRE 2008-09-08 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-03-10 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-03-29 +00:00 updated Name
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-01 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-05-11 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2012-10-30 +00:00 updated Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2014-07-30 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-02-24 +00:00 updated Name, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2021-10-28 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-01-31 +00:00 updated Description, Name, Observed_Examples, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-04-27 +00:00 updated Detection_Factors, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-06-29 +00:00 updated Mapping_Notes
CWE Content Team MITRE 2025-12-11 +00:00 updated Applicable_Platforms, Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities
CWE Content Team MITRE 2026-10-28 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences, Description