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 (68863)
Tenda FH1202 v1.2.0.14(408) has a stack overflow vulnerability in the urls parameter of the saveParentControlInfo function. 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.
CreateWiki is Miraheze's MediaWiki extension for requesting & creating wikis. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability could allow attackers to access sensitive data that should not be disclosed.
CreateWiki is Miraheze's MediaWiki extension for requesting & creating wikis. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Kimai is a web-based multi-user time-tracking application. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Tenda FH1202 v1.2.0.14(408) has a stack overflow vulnerability in the deviceId parameter of the formSetDeviceName function. 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.
Improper validation of array index vulnerability in UserPrivilege.Enum webapi component in Synology Surveillance Station before 9.2.0-9289 and 9.2.0-11289 allows remote authenticated users to obtain. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File vulnerability in PeepSo Community by PeepSo.2.7.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File vulnerability in Seraphinite Solutions Seraphinite Accelerator.20.47. 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 Booster Booster Elite for WooCommerce.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Booster Booster Plus for WooCommerce.1.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Meta Tag Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.2 via deserialization of untrusted input in the get_post_data function. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw has been found in Teledyne FLIR AX8 up to 1.46.16. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use of Insufficiently Random Values vulnerability in NEC Corporation Aterm WG1800HP4, WG1200HS3, WG1900HP2, WG1200HP3, WG1800HP3, WG1200HS2, WG1900HP, WG1200HP2, W1200EX(-MS), WG1200HS, WG1200HP,. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA Virtual GPU Manager contains a vulnerability in the vGPU plugin, where it allows a guest OS to allocate resources for which the guest OS is not authorized. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows and Linux contains a vulnerability where a user may cause a NULL-pointer dereference by accessing passed parameters the validity of which has not been checked. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
NVIDIA GPU Display Driver for Windows contains a vulnerability in the kernel mode layer when the driver is performing an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required. 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 in the user mode layer, where an unprivileged regular user can cause an out-of-bounds write. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Saleor is an e-commerce platform that serves high-volume companies. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Serverpod is an app and web server, built for the Flutter and Dart ecosystem. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required.
The Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects your devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
wall in util-linux through 2.40, often installed with setgid tty permissions, allows escape sequences to be sent to other users' terminals through argv. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 10.2%.
In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.2.1, 9.1.4, and 9.0.9, the software potentially exposes authentication tokens during the token validation process. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, low-privileged, local attacker to access WLAN configuration details including passwords. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the data model interface (DMI) services of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access resources that should have been protected by a configured. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the Unified Threat Defense (UTD) configuration CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the NETCONF feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: pds_core: Fix possible double free in error handling path When auxiliary_device_add() returns error and then calls. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sr9800: Add check for usbnet_get_endpoints Add check for usbnet_get_endpoints() and return the error if it fails in order to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
A vulnerability in the Eclipse Vert.x toolkit results in a memory leak due to using Netty FastThreadLocal data structures. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the BluStar component of Mitel InAttend 2.6 SP4 through 2.7 and CMG 8.5 SP4 through 8.6 could allow access to sensitive information, changes to the system configuration, or. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The The Plus Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 5.4.1 via the Team Member Listing widget. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The The Plus Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 5.4.1 via the Clients widget. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
An issue was discovered on WyreStorm Apollo VX20 devices before 1.3.58. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered on WyreStorm Apollo VX20 devices before 1.3.58. 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 out-of-bounds access occurs in utilities/var_export/var_export.c in RT-Thread through 5.0.2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
RT-Thread through 5.0.2 generates random numbers with a weak algorithm of "seed = 214013L * seed + 2531011L; return (seed >> 16) & 0x7FFF;" in calc_random in drivers/misc/rt_random.c. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Campcodes House Rental Management System 1.0. 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.
In AutomationDirect C-MORE EA9 HMI, credentials used by the platform are stored as plain text on the device. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Directory Traversal vulnerability in Yealink VP59 v.91.15.0.118 allows a physically proximate attacker to obtain sensitive information via terms of use function in the company portal component. 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.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in PeepSo Community by PeepSo.0.9.0. 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 mbbhatti Upload Resume.2.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File vulnerability in GSheetConnector CF7 Google Sheets Connector.0.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Preservation of Permissions vulnerability in Apache Airflow.8.2 through 2.8.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
In Eclipse ThreadX before version 6.4.0, the _Mtxinit() function in the Xtensa port was missing an array size check causing a memory overwrite. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tracing: Ensure visibility when inserting an element into tracing_map Running the following two commands in parallel on a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: don't abort filesystem when attempting to snapshot deleted subvolume If the source file descriptor to the snapshot ioctl. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use of Uninitialized Resource vulnerability could allow attackers to access uninitialized memory causing crashes or information disclosure.
Dell Grab for Windows, versions 5.0.4 and below, contains a cleartext storage of sensitive information vulnerability in its appsync module. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Dell Grab for Windows, versions 5.0.4 and below, contains an improper file permissions vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A memory buffer vulnerability in Rockwell Automation Arena Simulation could potentially let a threat actor read beyond the intended memory boundaries. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
xzs-mysql 3.8 is vulnerable to Insufficient Session Expiration, which allows attackers to use the session of a deleted admin to do anything. 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.
Pimcore is an Open Source Data & Experience Management Platform. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
IBM App Connect Enterprise 11.0.0.1 through 11.0.0.23, 12.0.1.0 through 12.0.9.0 and IBM Integration Bus for z/OS 10.1 through 10.1.0.2store potentially sensitive information in log or trace files. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
CreateWiki is Miraheze's MediaWiki extension for requesting & creating wikis. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Wholesale Team WholesaleX.3.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insecure UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following in TeamViewer Remote Client prior Version 15.52 for macOS allows an attacker with unprivileged access, to potentially elevate privileges or conduct a. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The TELNET service of AdTran NetVanta 3120 18.01.01.00.E devices is enabled by default, and has default credentials for a root-level account. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Testimonial Slider WordPress plugin before 2.3.7 does not properly ensure that a user has the necessary capabilities to edit certain sensitive Testimonial Slider WordPress plugin before 2.3.7. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Nautobot is a Network Source of Truth and Network Automation Platform. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability could allow attackers to access sensitive data that should not be disclosed.
A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in the Rockwell Automation PowerFlex® 527 due to improper input validation in the device. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
KaTeX is a JavaScript library for TeX math rendering on the web. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
KaTeX is a JavaScript library for TeX math rendering on the web. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In Emacs before 29.3, Org mode considers contents of remote files to be trusted. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In Emacs before 29.3, Gnus treats inline MIME contents as trusted. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
An issue in axonaut v.3.1.23 and before allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via the log.txt component. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Anope before 2.0.15 does not prevent resetting the password of a suspended account. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Exposed IOCTL with insufficient access control issue exists in cg6kwin2k.sys prior to 2.1.7.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HGW BL1500HM Ver 002.001.013 and earlier contains a use of week credentials issue. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Versions of the package web3-utils before 4.2.1 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution via the utility functions format and mergeDeep, due to insecure recursive merge. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The wp-schema-pro WordPress plugin before 2.7.16 does not validate post access allowing a contributor user to access custom fields on any post regardless of post type or status via a shortcode. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
HGW BL1500HM Ver 002.001.013 and earlier contains a use of week credentials issue. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.9), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Qt 6.5.4, 6.5.5, and 6.6.2, QNetworkReply header data might be accessed via a dangling pointer in Qt for WebAssembly (wasm). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
paddlepaddle/paddle 2.6.0 allows arbitrary file read via paddle.vision.ops.read_file. 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.
The "BuddyPress WooCommerce My Account Integration. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
.NET Framework Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), 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.
Translate is a package that allows users to convert text to different languages on Node.js and the browser. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Information exposure vulnerability in the CIGESv2 system. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Information exposure vulnerability in the CIGESv2 system. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An attacker was able to perform an out-of-bounds read or write on a JavaScript object by fooling range-based bounds check elimination. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Invocation of the sqlplus command with sensitive information in the command line in the mk_oracle Checkmk agent plugin before Checkmk 2.3.0b4 (beta), 2.2.0p24, 2.1.0p41 and 2.0.0 (EOL) allows the. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The LiquidPoll - Polls, Surveys, NPS and Feedback Reviews plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.76 via the poller_list. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Grav is an open-source, flat-file content management system. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue in iTop DualSafe Password Manager & Digital Vault before 1.4.24 allows a local attacker to obtain sensitive information via leaked credentials as plaintext in a log file that can be accessed. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The SolarEdge mySolarEdge application before 2.20.1 for Android has a certificate verification issue that allows a Machine-in-the-middle (MitM) attacker to read and alter all network traffic between. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is no authentication required. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The dormakaba Saflok system before the November 2023 software update allows an attacker to unlock arbitrary doors at a property via forged keycards, if the attacker has obtained one active or expired. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
The private key for the IBM Storage Protect Plus Server 10.1.0 through 10.1.16 certificate can be disclosed, undermining the security of the certificate. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue occurs during password recovery, where a difference in messages could allow an attacker to determine if the user is valid or not, enabling a brute force attack with valid users.7.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.