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 (68773)
Dell Update Manager Plugin, versions 1.4.0 through 1.5.0, contains a Plain-text Password Storage Vulnerability in Log file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An improper certificate validation vulnerability exists in BIG-IP Next Central Manager and may allow an attacker to impersonate an Instance Provider system. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
When IPsec is configured on a virtual server, undisclosed traffic can cause the Traffic Management Microkernel (TMM) to terminate. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Spin is the developer tool for building and running serverless applications powered by WebAssembly. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
BIG-IP Next Central Manager (CM) may allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to obtain the BIG-IP Next LTM/WAF instance credentials. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
When an SSL profile with alert timeout is configured with a non-default value on a virtual server, undisclosed traffic along with conditions beyond the attacker's control can cause the Traffic. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability exists in the GSLB container, which may allow an authenticated attacker with local access to view sensitive information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
VMware Avi Load Balancer contains an information disclosure vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A race condition leading to a stack use-after-free flaw was found in libvirt. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The PostgreSQL implementation in Brocade SANnav versions before 2.3.0a is vulnerable to an incorrect local authentication flaw. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Local Root Exploit via Configuration Dictionary in dnf5daemon-server before 5.1.17 allows a malicious user to impact Confidentiality and Integrity via Configuration Dictionary. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In multiple locations, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a heap buffer overflow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Write vulnerability could allow attackers to write data beyond allocated buffer boundaries leading to code execution or crashes.
In multiple functions of CompanionDeviceManagerService.java, there is a possible launch NotificationAccessConfirmationActivity of another user profile due to improper input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
CmsEasy v7.7.7.9 was discovered to contain a local file inclusion vunerability via the file_get_contents function in the fetch_action method of /admin/template_admin.php. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Cypher component in Neo4j 5.0.0 through 5.18 mishandles IMMUTABLE privileges in some situations where an attacker already has admin access. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Logpoint before 7.4.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability has been identified in Phish Alert Button for Outlook (PAB), specifically within its configuration management functionalities. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Unverified Password Change could allow a malicious actor with API access to the device to change the system password without knowing the previous password. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Alcatel-Lucent ALE NOE deskphones through 86x8_NOE-R300.1.40.12.4180 and SIP deskphones through 86x8_SIP-R200.1.01.10.728. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Kimai up to 2.15.0 and classified as problematic. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Logpoint before 7.4.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue in HSC Cybersecurity HC Mailinspector 5.2.17-3 through 5.2.18 allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via a crafted payload to the id parameter in the mliSystemUsers.php. 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.
MP-SPDZ v0.3.8 was discovered to contain a stack overflow via the function octetStream::get_bytes in /Tools/octetStream.cpp. 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.
In Eclipse Dataspace Components from version 0.2.1 to 0.6.2, in the EDC Connector component ( https://github.com/eclipse-edc/Connector ), an attacker might obtain OAuth2 client secrets from the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3).
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Faraday GM8181 and GM828x up to 20240429. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as problematic was found in Faraday GM8181 and GM828x up to 20240429. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
in OpenHarmony v4.0.0 and prior versions allow a local attacker arbitrary code execution in pre-installed apps through use after free or cause DOS through NULL pointer dereference. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper handling of insufficient privileges vulnerability in TalkbackSE prior to version Android 14 allows local attackers to modify setting value of TalkbackSE. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper verification of intent by broadcast receiver vulnerability in Galaxy Store prior to version 4.5.71.8 allows local attackers to write arbitrary files with the privilege of Galaxy Store. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper input validation in Samsung Notes prior to version 4.4.15 allows local attackers to delete files with Samsung Notes privilege under certain conditions. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper privilege management vulnerability in Samsung Email prior to version 6.1.91.14 allows local attackers to access sensitive information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in DarManagerService prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows local attackers to monitor system resources. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper export of android application components vulnerability in TelephonyUI prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows local attackers to reboot the device without proper permission. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in FactoryCamera prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows local attackers to take pictures without privilege. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in setCocktailHostCallbacks of CocktailBarService prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows local attackers to access information of current application. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in startListening of CocktailBarService prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows local attackers to access information of current application. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in multitasking framework prior to SMR May-2024 Release 1 allows physical attackers to access unlocked screen for a while. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability possible to reconfigure OTP allows local attackers to transit RMA(Return Merchandise Authorization) mode, which disables security features. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insecure storage of the ICT MIFARE and DESFire encryption keys in the firmware binary allows malicious actors to create credentials for any site code and card number that is using the default ICT. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
nscd: netgroup cache assumes NSS callback uses in-buffer strings The Name Service Cache Daemon's (nscd) netgroup cache can corrupt memory when the NSS callback does not store all strings in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
LuckyFrameWeb v3.5.2 was discovered to contain an arbitrary read vulnerability via the fileDownload method in class com.luckyframe.project.common.CommonController. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Mooberry Dreams Mooberry Book Manager.15.12. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Scribit GDPR Compliance.2.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in RoboSoft Robo Gallery.2.18. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bound memory read vulnerability was discovered in Bytecode Alliance wasm-micro-runtime v2.0.0 which allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service via the "block_type_get_arity". 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.
wasm3 v0.5.0 was discovered to contain an out-of-bound memory read which leads to segmentation fault via the function "main" in wasm3/platforms/app/main.c. 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.
An issue was discovered in Archer Platform 6 before 2024.04. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Archer Platform 6 before 2024.03 contains a sensitive information disclosure vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An SQLi vulnerability exists in Delta Electronics DIAEnergie v1.10.1.8610 and prior when CEBC.exe processes a 'RecalculateHDMWYC' message, which is split into 4 fields using the '~' character as the. 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 SQLi vulnerability exists in Delta Electronics DIAEnergie v1.10.1.8610 and prior when CEBC.exe processes a 'RecalculateScript' message, which is splitted into 4 fields using the '~' character as. 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.
Section Camera V2.5.5.3116-S50-SMA-B20160811 and earlier versions allow the accounts and passwords of administrators and users to be changed without authorization. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
E-Mails exported as PDF were stored in a cache that did not consider specific session information for the related user account. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
Mateso PasswordSafe through 8.13.9.26689 has Weak Cryptography. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In keyInstall, there is a possible out of bounds read due to a missing bounds check. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Nebari through 2024.4.1 prints the temporary Keycloak root password. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
WordOps through 3.20.0 has a wo/cli/plugins/stack_pref.py TOCTOU race condition because the conf_path os.open does not use a mode parameter during file creation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.7), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
spaces_plugin/app.py in SolidUI 0.4.0 has an unnecessary print statement for an OpenAI key. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
FileCodeBox 2.0 stores a OneDrive password and AWS key in a cleartext env file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Gradio before 4.20 allows credential leakage on Windows. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
dcmdata in DCMTK before 3.6.9 has a segmentation fault via an invalid DIMSE message. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
In Maxima through 5.47.0 before 51704c, the plotting facilities make use of predictable names under /tmp. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
btcd before 0.24.0 does not correctly implement the consensus rules outlined in BIP 68 and BIP 112, making it susceptible to consensus failures. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in appmgr in O-RAN Near-RT RIC I-Release. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
The ConvertPlug plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 3.5.25 via deserialization of untrusted input from the 'settings_encoded' attribute of. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Pterodactyl wings is the server control plane for Pterodactyl Panel. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
An issue in LIEF v.0.14.1 allows a local attacker to obtain sensitive information via the name parameter of the machd_reader.c component. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.9), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in the Bouncy Castle Crypto Package For Java before BC TLS Java 1.0.19 (ships with BC Java 1.78, BC Java (LTS) 2.73.6) and before BC FIPS TLS Java 1.0.19. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Implicit intent vulnerability was reported in the Motorola framework that could allow an attacker to read telephony-related data. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An improper export vulnerability was reported in the Motorola Enterprise MotoDpms Provider (com.motorola.server.enterprise.MotoDpmsProvider) that could allow a local attacker to read local data. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Mullvad VPN through 2024.1 on Android does not set a DNS server in the blocking state (after a hard failure to create a tunnel), and thus DNS traffic can leave the device. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The 'control' in Parrot ANAFI USA firmware 1.10.4 does not check the MAV_MISSION_TYPE(0, 1, 2, 255), which allows attacker to cut off the connection between a controller and the drone by sending. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An implicit intent vulnerability was reported for Motorola’s Time Weather Widget application that could allow a local application to acquire the location of the device without authorization. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The JsonToBinaryStream() function is part of the protocol buffers C++ implementation and is used to parse JSON from a stream. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
vodozemac is an implementation of Olm and Megolm in pure Rust. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.5). No vendor patch available.
Broken Access Control vulnerability in ReviewX.6.21. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use of Externally-Controlled Format String vulnerability in Merge DICOM Toolkit C/C++ on Windows. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.7), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use of Out-of-range Pointer Offset vulnerability in Merge DICOM Toolkit C/C++ on Windows. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability in Merge DICOM Toolkit C/C++ on Windows. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.0), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A highly privileged account can overwrite arbitrary files on the system with log output. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Acrobat Reader versions 20.005.30539, 23.008.20470 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. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Contact Form 7 Database Addon - CFDB7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in versions up to, and including, 1.2.6.8 via the cfdb7_before_send_mail function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Click to Chat - HoliThemes plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 3.35. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload - Contact Form 7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.7.7 via the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The Contact Form by WPForms - Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to price manipulation in versions up to, and including, 1.8.7.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The ElementsKit Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 3.6.0 via the Price Menu, Hotspot, and Advanced Toggle widgets. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The ElementsKit Elementor addons plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.0 via the generate_navigation_markup function of the Onepage. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
The Easy Custom Auto Excerpt plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.12. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The eRoom - Zoom Meetings & Webinars plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.18 via the search_posts function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Booster Extension plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.2.0 via the 'booster_extension_authorbox_shortcode_display'. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Grid Gallery - Photo Image Grid Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.3 via deserialization via shortcode of untrusted input. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.