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 (68757)
Shenzhen Guoxin Synthesis image system before 8.3.0 allows unauthorized user information retrieval via the queryUser API. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Shenzhen Guoxin Synthesis image system before 8.3.0 allows username enumeration because of the response discrepancy of incorrect versus error. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
iRODS before 4.3.2 provides an msiSendMail function with a problematic dependency on the mail binary, such as in the mailMS.cpp#L94-L106 reference. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
irodsServerMonPerf in iRODS before 4.3.2 attempts to proceed with use of a path even if it is not a directory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In SonarQube before 10.4 and 9.9.4 LTA, encrypted values generated using the Settings Encryption feature are potentially exposed in cleartext as part of the URL parameters in the logs (such as. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
url.c in GNU Wget through 1.24.5 mishandles semicolons in the userinfo subcomponent of a URI, and thus there may be insecure behavior in which data that was supposed to be in the userinfo. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In International Color Consortium DemoIccMAX before 85ce74e, a logic flaw in CIccTagXmlProfileSequenceId::ParseXml in IccXML/IccLibXML/IccTagXml.cpp results in unconditionally returning false. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Mismatches in interpreting USB authorization policy between GNOME Settings Daemon (GSD) through 46.0 and the Linux kernel's underlying device matching logic allow a physically proximate attacker to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Db2 for i 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 supplies user defined table function is vulnerable to user enumeration by a local authenticated attacker, without having authority to the related *USRPRF objects. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Video Gallery - YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.13 via the display function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The Video Gallery - YouTube Playlist, Channel Gallery by YotuWP plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.13 via the settings parameter. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The WooCommerce - Social Login plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 2.6.2 via deserialization of untrusted input from the 'woo_slg_verify'. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The tagDiv Composer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 4.8 via the 'td_block_title' shortcode 'block_template_id' attribute. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HCL DRYiCE Optibot Reset Station is impacted by an Unused Parameter in the web application. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
HCL DRYiCE Optibot Reset Station is impacted by a missing Strict Transport Security Header. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
StorageGRID (formerly StorageGRID Webscale) versions prior to 11.7.0.9 and 11.8.0.5 are susceptible to disclosure of sensitive information via complex MiTM attacks due to a vulnerability in the SSH. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Rockwell Automation was made aware of a vulnerability that causes all affected controllers on the same network to result in a major nonrecoverable fault(MNRF/Assert). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
user_oidc app is an OpenID Connect user backend for Nextcloud. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Nextcloud Calendar is a calendar app for Nextcloud. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
LNbits is a Lightning wallet and accounts system. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
LB-LINK BL-W1210M v2.0 was discovered to store user credentials in plaintext within the router's firmware. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the IPS Manager, Central Manager, and Local Manager communication workflow allows an attacker to control the destination of a request by manipulating the parameter, thereby. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Mattermost Desktop App versions <=5.7.0 fail to correctly prompt for permission when opening external URLs which allows a remote attacker to force a victim over the Internet to run arbitrary programs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use of Web Browser Cache Containing Sensitive Information vulnerability in Apache Airflow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
The notification emails sent by Soar Cloud HR Portal contain a link with a embedded session. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Where I Was, Where I Will Be plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote File Inclusion in version <= 1.1.1 via the WIW_HEADER parameter of the /system/include/include_user.php file. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability of insufficient permission verification in the NearLink module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect service confidentiality. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Memory management vulnerability in the Gralloc module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability will affect availability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the audio module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability will affect availability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The events-calendar-pro WordPress plugin before 6.4.0.1, The Events Calendar WordPress plugin before 6.4.0.1 does not prevent users with at least the contributor role from leaking details about. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Remote Command program allows an attacker to read any file using a Local File Inclusion vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
Coredump binaries in Toshiba printers have incorrect permissions. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
All the Toshiba printers share the same hardcoded root password. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Passwords are stored in clear-text logs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA Triton Inference Server for Linux contains a vulnerability where a user may cause an incorrect Initialization of resource by network issue. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA vGPU software for Linux contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager, where the guest OS could cause buffer overrun in the host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA Triton Inference Server for Linux and Windows contains a vulnerability where a user can inject forged logs and executable commands by injecting arbitrary data as a new log entry. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU software for Linux contains a vulnerability where it can expose sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability where a user can cause an untrusted pointer dereference by executing a driver API. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability where a user can cause an out-of-bounds write. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability where the information from a previous client or another process could be disclosed. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA vGPU software for Linux contains a vulnerability in the Virtual GPU Manager, where the guest OS could execute privileged operations. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In plugin_ipc_handler of slc_plugin.c, there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
there is a possible information disclosure due to side channel information disclosure. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In set_secure_reg of sac_handler.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In fvp_freq_histogram_init of fvp.c, there is a possible Information Disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In CellInfoListParserV2::FillCellInfo() of protocolnetadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In tpu_get_int_state of tpu.c, there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In handle_msg_shm_map_req of trusty/user/base/lib/spi/srv/tipc/tipc.c, there is a possible stack data disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolVsimOperationAdapter() of protocolvsimadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolCellIdentityParserV4::Parse() of protocolnetadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolCdmaCallWaitingIndAdapter::GetCwInfo() of protocolsmsadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
In bc_get_converted_received_bearer of bc_utilities.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In _s5e9865_mif_set_rate of exynos_dvfs.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to improper casting. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In aur_get_state of aurora.c, there is a possible information disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ss_AnalyzeOssReturnResUssdArgIe of ss_OssAsnManagement.c, there is a possible out of bounds read due to improper input validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In hwbcc_ns_deprivilege of trusty/user/base/lib/hwbcc/client/hwbcc.c, there is a possible uninitialized stack data disclosure due to uninitialized data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In ProtocolPsDedicatedBearInfoAdapter::processQosSession of protocolpsadapter.cpp, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). No vendor patch available.
Deep Sea Electronics DSE855 Configuration Backup Missing Authentication Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In certain scenarios a malicious website could attempt to display a fake location URL bar which could mislead users as to the actual website address This vulnerability affects Firefox for iOS < 127. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
When browsing private tabs, some data related to location history or webpage thumbnails could be persisted incorrectly within the sandboxed app bundle after app termination This vulnerability affects. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Spoofing Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Spoofing Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft Edge for iOS Spoofing Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
An issue in Annonshop.app DecentralizeJustice/anonymousLocker commit 2b2b4 to ba9fd and DecentralizeJustice/anonBackend commit 57837 to cd815 was discovered to store credentials in plaintext. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Logs storing credentials are insufficiently protected and can be decoded through the use of open source tools. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Transmitted data is logged between the device and the backend service. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Sensitive customer information is stored in the device without encryption. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Utilizing default credentials, an attacker is able to log into the camera's operating system which could allow changes to be made to the operations or shutdown the camera requiring a physical reboot. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An unauthorized user is able to gain access to sensitive data, including credentials, by physically retrieving the hard disk of the product as the data is stored in clear text. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
UERANSIM before 3.2.6 allows out-of-bounds read when a RLS packet is sent to gNodeB with malformed PDU length. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability could allow attackers to access sensitive data that should not be disclosed.
SCG Policy Manager, all versions, contains an overly permissive Cross-Origin Resource Policy (CORP) vulnerability. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Jazz Reporting Service 7.0.3 stores user credentials in plain clear text which can be read by an admin user. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
IBM Maximo Asset Management 7.6.1.3 and IBM Maximo Application Suite 8.10 and 8.11 allows web pages to be stored locally which can be read by another user on the system. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Dell Client Platform BIOS contains an Improper Input Validation vulnerability in an externally developed component. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Telemetry Dashboard v1.0.0.8 for Dell ThinOS 2402 contains a sensitive information disclosure vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Framemaker Publishing Server versions 2020.3, 2022.2 and earlier are affected by an Information Exposure vulnerability (CWE-200) that could lead to privilege escalation. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Photoshop Desktop versions 24.7.3, 25.7 and earlier are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Media Encoder versions 23.6.5, 24.3 and earlier Answer: are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The CoDesigner WooCommerce Builder for Elementor - Customize Checkout, Shop, Email, Products & More plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including,. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
The Easy WP SMTP by SendLayer - WordPress SMTP and Email Log Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to information exposure in all versions up to, and including, 2.3.0. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Audition versions 24.2, 23.6.4 and earlier Answer: are affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could lead to disclosure of sensitive memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue has been identified in both XenServer 8 and Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 LTSR which may allow a malicious administrator of a guest VM to cause the host to become slow and/or unresponsive. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An access control issue in Wvp GB28181 Pro 2.0 allows users to continue to access information in the application after deleting their own or administrator accounts. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Improper input validation of printing files in Monoprice Select Mini V2 V37.115.32 allows attackers to instruct the device's movable parts to destinations that exceed the devices' maximum coordinates. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A problem with the Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect app can result in exposure of encrypted user credentials, used for connecting to GlobalProtect, in application logs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A problem with a protection mechanism in the Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR agent on Windows devices allows a local low privileged Windows user to disrupt some functionality of the agent. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.0). No vendor patch available.
device’s web interface when an attacker sends a specially crafted HTTP request. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
exposure of SNMP credentials when an attacker has access to the controller logs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.