Information Disclosure
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
How It Works
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security. This happens through multiple channels: verbose error messages that display stack traces revealing internal paths and frameworks, improperly secured debug endpoints left active in production, and misconfigured servers that expose directory listings or version control artifacts like .git folders. APIs often leak excessive data in responses—returning full user objects when only a name is needed, or revealing system internals through metadata fields.
Attackers exploit these exposures systematically. They probe for common sensitive files (.env, config.php, backup archives), trigger error conditions to extract framework details, and analyze response timing or content differences to enumerate valid usernames or resources. Even subtle variations—like "invalid password" versus "user not found"—enable account enumeration. Exposed configuration files frequently contain database credentials, API keys, or internal service URLs that unlock further attack vectors.
The attack flow typically starts with passive reconnaissance: examining HTTP headers, JavaScript bundles, and public endpoints for version information and architecture clues. Active probing follows—testing predictable paths, manipulating parameters to trigger exceptions, and comparing responses across similar requests to identify information leakage patterns.
Impact
- Credential compromise: Exposed configuration files, hardcoded secrets in source code, or API keys enable direct authentication bypass
- Attack surface mapping: Stack traces, framework versions, and internal paths help attackers craft targeted exploits for known vulnerabilities
- Data breach: Direct exposure of user data, payment information, or proprietary business logic through oversharing APIs or accessible backups
- Privilege escalation pathway: Internal URLs, service discovery information, and architecture details facilitate lateral movement and SSRF attacks
- Compliance violations: GDPR, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA penalties for exposing regulated data through preventable disclosures
Real-World Examples
A major Git repository exposure affected thousands of websites when .git folders remained accessible on production servers, allowing attackers to reconstruct entire source code histories including deleted commits containing credentials. Tools like GitDumper automated mass exploitation of this misconfiguration.
Cloud storage misconfigurations have repeatedly exposed sensitive data when companies left S3 buckets or Azure Blob containers publicly readable. One incident exposed 150 million voter records because verbose API error messages revealed the storage URL structure, and no authentication was required.
Framework debug modes left enabled in production have caused numerous breaches. Django's DEBUG=True setting exposed complete stack traces with database queries and environment variables, while Laravel's debug pages revealed encryption keys through the APP_KEY variable in environment dumps.
Mitigation
- Generic error pages: Return uniform error messages to users; log detailed exceptions server-side only
- Disable debug modes: Enforce production configurations that suppress stack traces, verbose logging, and debug endpoints through deployment automation
- Access control audits: Restrict or remove development artifacts (
.git, backup files,phpinfo()) and internal endpoints before deployment - Response minimization: API responses should return only necessary fields; implement allowlists rather than blocklists for data exposure
- Security headers: Deploy
X-Content-Type-Options, remove server version banners, and disable directory indexing - Timing consistency: Ensure authentication and validation responses take uniform time regardless of input validity
Recent CVEs (13643)
A vulnerability was found in CodeCanyon RISE Ultimate Project Manager 3.8.2 and classified as problematic. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The passprompt plugin in pppd in ppp before 2.5.2 mishandles privileges. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in YXJ2018 SpringBoot-Vue-OnlineExam 1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in panhainan DS-Java 1.0 and classified as critical.action of the file src/com/phn/action/FileUpload.java. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Adept is a language for general purpose programming. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in wix-incubator jam up to e87a6fd85cf8fb5ff37b62b2d68f917219d07ae9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
User Enumeration and Data Integrity in Barcode functionality in OpenText Content Management versions 24.3-25.1on Windows and Linux allows a malicous authenticated attacker to potentially alter. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
Reference to Expired Domain Vulnerability in OpenText™ ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sonos api.sonos.com through 2025-04-21, when the /login/v3/oauth endpoint is used, accepts a redirect_uri containing userinfo in the authority component, which is not consistent with RFC 6819 section. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability in a Render function of Formulatrix Rock Maker Web (RMW) allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive data via arbitrary code execution. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in GoBGP before 3.35.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
An issue was discovered in GoBGP before 3.35.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
An issue was discovered in GoBGP before 3.35.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In LibRaw before 0.21.4, tag 0x412 processing in phase_one_correct in decoders/load_mfbacks.cpp does not enforce minimum w0 and w1 values. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
In LibRaw before 0.21.4, phase_one_correct in decoders/load_mfbacks.cpp allows out-of-buffer access because split_col and split_row values are not checked in 0x041f tag processing. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
In LibRaw before 0.21.4, phase_one_correct in decoders/load_mfbacks.cpp has out-of-bounds reads for tag 0x412 processing, related to large w0 or w1 values or the frac and mult calculations. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
In LibRaw before 0.21.4, metadata/tiff.cpp has an out-of-bounds read in the Fujifilm 0xf00c tag parser. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
TwsCachedXPathAPI in Convertigo through 8.3.4 does not restrict the use of commons-jxpath APIs. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.2). Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
open_actions.py in kitty before 0.41.0 does not ask for user confirmation before running a local executable file that may have been linked from an untrusted document (e.g., a document opened in KDE. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required. Public exploit code available.
SSL.com before 2025-04-19, when domain validation method 3.2.2.4.14 is used, processes certificate requests such that a trusted TLS certificate may be issued for the domain name of a requester's. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical was found in sarrionandia tournatrack up to 4c13a23f43da5317eea4614870a7a8510fc540ec. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in thautwarm vscode-diana 0.0.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The CLEVER - HTML5 Radio Player With History - Shoutcast and Icecast - Elementor Widget Addon plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file read due to insufficient file path validation in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
NSSCryptoSignBackend.cc in Poppler before 25.04.0 does not verify the adbe.pkcs7.sha1 signatures on documents, resulting in potential signature forgeries. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
z80pack is a mature emulator of multiple platforms with 8080 and Z80 CPU. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
In Nessus versions prior to 10.8.4, a non-authenticated attacker could alter Nessus logging entries by manipulating http requests to the application. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue in Macro-video Technologies Co.,Ltd V380 Pro android application 2.1.44 and V380 Pro android application 2.1.64 allows an attacker to obtain sensitive information via the QE code based. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Improper session management in the /login_ok.htm endpoint of DAEnetIP4 METO v1.25 allows attackers to execute a session hijacking attack. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Epss exploitation probability 11.5% and no vendor patch available.
Improper session management in Elber REBLE310 Firmware v5.5.1.R , Equipment Model: REBLE310/RX10/4ASI allows attackers to execute a session hijacking attack. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An information disclosure vulnerability in the component /socket.io/1/websocket/ of Soundcraft Ui Series Model(s) Ui12 and Ui16 Firmware v1.0.7x and v1.0.5x allows attackers to access Administrator. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SES safely executes third-party JavaScript 'strict' mode programs in compartments that have no excess authority in their global scope. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NamelessMC is a free, easy to use & powerful website software for Minecraft servers. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
NamelessMC is a free, easy to use & powerful website software for Minecraft servers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. Public exploit code available.
NamelessMC is a free, easy to use & powerful website software for Minecraft servers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Element X Android is a Matrix Android Client provided by element.io. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: io_uring: fix io_req_prep_async with provided buffers io_req_prep_async() can import provided buffers, commit the ring state by. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Rejected reason: ** REJECT ** DO NOT USE THIS CANDIDATE NUMBER. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in baseweb JSite 1.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
IBM Sterling Connect:Direct Web Services 6.1.0, 6.2.0, and 6.3.0 does not invalidate session after a browser closure which could allow an authenticated user to impersonate another user on the system. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Rejected reason: Not used. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: md/raid10: wait barrier before returning discard request with REQ_NOWAIT raid10_handle_discard should wait barrier before returning. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ASoC: simple-card-utils: Don't use __free(device_node) at graph_util_parse_dai() commit 419d1918105e ("ASoC: simple-card-utils: use. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: objtool, nvmet: Fix out-of-bounds stack access in nvmet_ctrl_state_show() The csts_state_names[] array only has six sparse entries,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: jfs: fix slab-out-of-bounds read in ea_get() During the "size_check" label in ea_get(), the code checks if the extended attribute. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nfsd: allow SC_STATUS_FREEABLE when searching via nfs4_lookup_stateid() The pynfs DELEG8 test fails when run against nfsd. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
A memory management vulnerability exists in the Linux kernel's ksmbd (SMB server) component where the aead_request_alloc() function is paired with kfree() instead of the proper aead_request_free() deallocation function. This vulnerability affects all Linux kernel versions with ksmbd support, particularly impacting Debian 11 systems and other distributions shipping vulnerable kernels. While the CVSS score of 5.5 indicates moderate severity with local denial-of-service potential, the EPSS score of 0.11% (30th percentile) suggests this is not actively exploited in the wild, though the vulnerability enables information disclosure through improper memory zeroing of sensitive cryptographic data.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: fsl-edma: free irq correctly in remove path Add fsl_edma->txirq/errirq check to avoid below warning because no errirq at. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amdgpu: Replace Mutex with Spinlock for RLCG register access to avoid Priority Inversion in SRIOV RLCG Register Access is a way for virtual functions to safely access...
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: jfs: reject on-disk inodes of an unsupported type Syzbot has reported the following BUG: kernel BUG at fs/inode.c:668!. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: LoongArch: BPF: Fix off-by-one error in build_prologue() Vincent reported that running BPF progs with tailcalls on LoongArch causes. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ext4: fix OOB read when checking dotdot dir Mounting a corrupted filesystem with directory which contains '.' dir entry with. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Insecure default settings have been found in recorder products provided by Yokogawa Electric Corporation. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Kernel software installed and running inside a Guest VM may exploit memory shared with the GPU Firmware to write data outside the Guest's virtualised GPU memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HCL MyXalytics is affected by SSL∕TLS Protocol affected with BREACH & LUCKY13 vulnerabilities. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
An issue in DataPatrol Screenshot watermark, printing watermark agent v.3.5.2.0 allows a physically proximate attacker to obtain sensitive information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In libxml2 before 2.13.8 and 2.14.x before 2.14.2, xmlSchemaIDCFillNodeTables in xmlschemas.c has a heap-based buffer under-read. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In JetBrains RubyMine before 2025.1 remote Interpreter overwrote ports to listen on all interfaces. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains Toolbox App before 2.6 the SSH plugin established connections without sufficient user confirmation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains Toolbox App before 2.6 unencrypted credential transmission during SSH authentication was possible. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.9), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains Toolbox App before 2.6 host key verification was missing in SSH plugin. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in nicdark Hotel Booking allows PHP Local File Inclusion.6. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in teamzt Smart Agreements allows PHP Local File Inclusion.0.3. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in Nawawi Jamili Docket Cache allows PHP Local File Inclusion.07.02. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in Themewinter WPCafe allows PHP Local File Inclusion.2.32. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive System Information to an Unauthorized Control Sphere vulnerability in Markus Drubba wpLike2Get allows Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data.2.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in Földesi, Mihály Széchenyi 2020 Logo allows PHP Local File Inclusion.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data vulnerability in Hive Support Hive Support allows Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data.2.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data vulnerability in WPMinds Simple WP Events allows Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data.8.17. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerability in videowhisper Paid Videochat Turnkey Site allows Password Recovery Exploitation.3.11. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Control of Filename for Include/Require Statement in PHP Program ('PHP Remote File Inclusion') vulnerability in jbhovik Ray Enterprise Translation allows PHP Local File Inclusion.7.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File vulnerability in WebToffee WordPress Backup & Migration allows Retrieve Embedded Sensitive Data.5.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerability in OpenText Secure Content Manager on Windows allows DLL Side-Loading.4. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Omnissa UAG contains a Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) bypass vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Forminator Forms - Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Order Replay in all versions up to, and including, 1.42.0 via the 'handle_stripe_single'. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The Password Protected - Password Protect your WordPress Site, Pages, & WooCommerce Products - Restrict Content, Protect WooCommerce Category and more plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Dell ECS version 3.8.1.4 and prior contain an Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Browser is affected by type confusion vulnerability, successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect service availability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An attacker with knowledge of creating user accounts during VM deployment on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using the OS Login feature, can login via SSH gaining command-line control of the operating. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Klarna Checkout for WooCommerce WordPress plugin before 2.13.5 exposes an unauthenticated WooCommerce Ajax endpoint that allows an attacker to flood the log files with data at the maximum size. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.