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)
Weak password recovery mechanism in CDeX application allows to retrieve password reset token.7.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains TeamCity before 2023.11 users with access to the agent machine might obtain permissions of the user running the agent process. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in GnuTLS. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: mark set as dead when unbinding anonymous set with timeout While the rhashtable set gc runs asynchronously, a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: disallow anonymous set with timeout flag Anonymous sets are never used with timeout from userspace, reject. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: netfilter: nf_tables: disallow timeout for anonymous sets Never used from userspace, disallow these parameters. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.5).
Possible race condition vulnerability in Apache Doris. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Kerlink firewall in ChirpStack chirpstack-mqtt-forwarder before 4.2.1 and chirpstack-gateway-bridge before 4.0.11 wrongly accepts certain TCP packets when a connection is not in the ESTABLISHED. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In MISP before 2.4.187, __uploadLogo in app/Controller/OrganisationsController.php does not properly check for a valid logo upload. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability was found in OpenBMB XAgent 1.0.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Apollo Router is a graph router written in Rust to run a federated supergraph that uses Apollo Federation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Deno is a JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime with secure defaults. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Deno is a JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Deno is a JavaScript, TypeScript, and WebAssembly runtime. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
TOMP Bare Server implements the TompHTTP bare server. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
OpenZeppelin Contracts is a library for secure smart contract development. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Microsoft Edge for Android (Chromium-based) Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 stores potentially sensitive information in log files that could be read by a local user. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Xbox Gaming Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
datahub-helm provides the Kubernetes Helm charts for deploying Datahub and its dependencies on a Kubernetes cluster. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Saleor Storefront is software for building e-commerce experiences. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), 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.
Umbraco is an ASP.NET content management system. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Zulip is an open-source team collaboration tool. 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.
Inappropriate implementation in iOS in Google Chrome prior to 123.0.6312.58 allowed a remote attacker to perform UI spoofing via a crafted HTML page. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Incorrect security UI in iOS in Google Chrome prior to 123.0.6312.58 allowed a remote attacker to perform UI spoofing via a crafted HTML page. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Inappropriate implementation in Downloads in Google Chrome prior to 123.0.6312.58 allowed a remote attacker to perform UI spoofing via a crafted URL. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A potential vulnerability has been identified in OpenText ArcSight Platform. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Easy Maintenance Mode plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.2 via the REST API. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.99 via the REST API. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) via the FreeImage_Unload() function when reading images in HDR. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code via the Load() function when reading images in RAS format. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Buffer Overflow vulnerability in open source FreeImage v.3.19.0 [r1909] allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) via the fill_input_buffer() function when reading images in JPEG. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Elspec G5 digital fault recorder versions 1.1.4.15 and before. 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 Elspec G5 digital fault recorder versions 1.1.4.15 and before. 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 Elspec G5 digital fault recorder versions 1.1.4.15 and before. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Simple Ajax Chat WordPress plugin before 20240223 does not prevent visitors from using malicious Names when using the chat, which will be reflected unsanitized to other users. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Spring Authorization Server versions 1.0.0 - 1.0.5, 1.1.0 - 1.1.5, 1.2.0 - 1.2.2 and older unsupported versions are susceptible to a PKCE Downgrade Attack for Confidential Clients. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The WooCommerce POS plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to information disclosure in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.11. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in Netentsec NS-ASG Application Security Gateway 6.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Netentsec NS-ASG Application Security Gateway 6.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in osbuild-composer. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was found in the CPython `zipfile` module affecting versions 3.12.1, 3.11.7, 3.10.13, 3.9.18, and 3.8.18 and prior. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in Bdtask Wholesale Inventory Management System up to 20240311. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The configuration pages available are not intended to be placed on an Internet facing web server, as they expose file paths to the client, who can be an attacker. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A Information Exposure Vulnerability has been found on Meta4 HR. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A missing delay on when pointer lock was used could have allowed a malicious page to trick a user into granting permissions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The permission prompt input delay could expire while the window is not in focus. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Passing invalid data could have led to invalid wasm values being created, such as arbitrary integers turning into pointer values. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
User enumeration vulnerability in Devklan's Alma Blog that affects versions 2.1.10 and earlier. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in Apache Hop Engine.8.0. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Dell PowerEdge Server BIOS contains an Improper SMM communication buffer verification vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper input validation in AVSystem Unified Management Platform (UMP) 23.07.0.16567~LTS can result in unauthenticated CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) devices storing arbitrarily large amounts of. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Insecure storage of LDAP passwords in the authentication functionality of AVSystem Unified Management Platform (UMP) 23.07.0.16567~LTS allows members (with read access to the application database) to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insecure permissions for log files of AVSystem Unified Management Platform (UMP) 23.07.0.16567~LTS allow members (with local access to the UMP application server) to access credentials to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.19 and earlier are affected by an Information Exposure vulnerability that could result in a security feature bypass. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Experience Manager versions 6.5.19 and earlier are affected by an Information Exposure vulnerability that could result in a Security feature bypass. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Animate versions 24.0, 23.0.3 and earlier 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.
Animate versions 24.0, 23.0.3 and earlier 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.
Animate versions 24.0, 23.0.3 and earlier 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.
CWE-552: Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties vulnerability exists that could allow unauthenticated files and logs exfiltration and download of files when an attacker modifies the URL. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Bridge versions 13.0.5, 14.0.1 and earlier 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.
Tenda AC18 V15.03.05.05 has a stack overflow vulnerability in the page parameter of fromNatStaticSetting 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.
Unitronics Unistream Unilogic - Versions prior to 1.35.227 - CWE-348: Use of Less Trusted Source may allow RCE. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Unitronics Unistream Unilogic - Versions prior to 1.35.227 - CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor may allow Taking Ownership Over Devices. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A double-free vulnerability was found in libdwarf. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), 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: ip6_tunnel: make sure to pull inner header in __ip6_tnl_rcv() syzbot found __ip6_tnl_rcv() could access unitiliazed data [1]. 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.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tcp: add sanity checks to rx zerocopy TCP rx zerocopy intent is to map pages initially allocated from NIC drivers, not pages owned. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nbd: always initialize struct msghdr completely syzbot complains that msg->msg_get_inq value can be uninitialized [1] struct msghdr. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.4), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use of Uninitialized Resource vulnerability could allow attackers to access uninitialized memory causing crashes or information disclosure.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: llc: make llc_ui_sendmsg() more robust against bonding changes syzbot was able to trick llc_ui_sendmsg(), allocating an skb with no. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: llc: Drop support for ETH_P_TR_802_2. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: fix removing a namespace with conflicting altnames Mark reports a BUG() when a net namespace is removed. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ip6_tunnel: fix NEXTHDR_FRAGMENT handling in ip6_tnl_parse_tlv_enc_lim() syzbot pointed out [1] that NEXTHDR_FRAGMENT handling is. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ipv6: mcast: fix data-race in ipv6_mc_down / mld_ifc_work idev->mc_ifc_count can be written over without proper locking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7).
In OpenStack Murano through 16.0.0, when YAQL before 3.0.0 is used, the Murano service's MuranoPL extension to the YAQL language fails to sanitize the supplied environment, leading to potential. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Rocket.Chat.Audit through 5ad78e8 depends on filecachetools, which does not exist in PyPI. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper export of Android application components issue exists in 'ABEMA' App for Android prior to 10.65.0 allowing another app installed on the user's device to access an arbitrary URL on 'ABEMA'. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
FusionPBX before 5.2.0 does not validate a session. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in SourceCodester Employee Task Management System 1.0 and classified as critical. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A maliciously crafted DWG file when parsed through Autodesk DWG TrueView can be used to cause a Stack-based Overflow. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
** UNSUPPORTED WHEN ASSIGNED ** A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in jurecapuder AndroidWeatherApp 1.0.0 on Android. Rated low severity (CVSS 1.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in N-Media Frontend File Manager.7. 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 Benjamin Rojas WP Editor.2.7. 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 Pepro Dev. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.