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 (68908)
Improper following of a certificate's chain of trust exists in SkyBridge MB-A200 firmware Ver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in SkyBridge MB-A200 firmware Ver. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper privilege management vulnerability in SkyBridge MB-A100/110 firmware Ver. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Veritas InfoScale Operations Manager (VIOM) before 7.4.2.800 and 8.x before 8.0.410. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Veritas InfoScale Operations Manager (VIOM) before 7.4.2.800 and 8.x before 8.0.410. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered on GL.iNet devices before 3.216. 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.
A security vulnerability has been discovered in the implementation of 2FA on the rocket.chat platform, where other active sessions are not invalidated upon activating 2FA. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A path traversal vulnerability exists in Avalanche version 6.3.x and below that when exploited could result in possible information disclosure. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A session takeover vulnerability exists in FICO Origination Manager Decision Module 4.8.1 due to insufficient protection of the JSESSIONID cookie. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SysInternals Sysmon for Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Microsoft Remote Desktop app for Windows Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Microsoft SharePoint Server Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability could allow attackers to make the server perform requests to unintended internal or external resources.
Microsoft SharePoint Server Spoofing Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Integer Overflow vulnerability could allow attackers to cause unexpected behavior through arithmetic overflow.
Windows Backup Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Windows iSCSI Target Service Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Integer Overflow vulnerability could allow attackers to cause unexpected behavior through arithmetic overflow.
Windows Bluetooth Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type (Type Confusion) vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code by exploiting type confusion in the application.
Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Windows NFS Portmapper Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Windows NTLM Security Support Provider Information Disclosure Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), 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.
Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0).
A vulnerability in the key-based SSH authentication feature of Cisco StarOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue found in libming swftophp v.0.4.8 allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service via the stackVal function in util/decompile.c. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An arbitrary code execution vulnerability contained in Rockwell Automation's Arena Simulation software was reported that could potentially allow a malicious user to commit unauthorized arbitrary code. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An arbitrary code execution vulnerability contained in Rockwell Automation's Arena Simulation software was reported that could potentially allow a malicious user to commit unauthorized arbitrary code. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
yasm v1.3.0 was discovered to contain a memory leak via the function yasm_intnum_copy at /libyasm/intnum.c. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in Solid Edge SE2023 (All versions < V223.0 Update 3), Solid Edge SE2023 (All versions < V223.0 Update 2). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC Cloud Connect 7 CC712 (All versions >= V2.0 < V2.1), SIMATIC Cloud Connect 7 CC716 (All versions >= V2.0 < V2.1). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability has been identified in SIMATIC Cloud Connect 7 CC712 (All versions >= V2.0 < V2.1), SIMATIC Cloud Connect 7 CC716 (All versions >= V2.0 < V2.1). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), 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.
A vulnerability has been identified in SCALANCE LPE9403 (All versions < V2.1). Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SAP GUI for Windows - version 7.70, 8.0, allows an unauthorized attacker to gain NTLM authentication information of a victim by tricking it into clicking a prepared shortcut file. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Under certain conditions, SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform (Central Management Service) - versions 420, 430, allows an attacker to access information which would otherwise be. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform - versions 420, 430, allows an authenticated attacker to access sensitive information which is otherwise restricted. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Exynos Mobile Processor and Modem for Exynos Modem 5123, Exynos Modem 5300, Exynos 980, and Exynos 1080. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SAP BusinessObjects Platform - versions 420, 430, Information design tool transmits sensitive information as cleartext in the binaries over the network. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform - versions 420, 430, allows an authenticated attacker with administrator privileges to get the login token of any logged-in BI user over the network. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A device API endpoint was missing access controls on Western Digital My Cloud OS 5 iOS and Anroid Mobile Apps, My Cloud Home iOS and Android Mobile Apps, SanDisk ibi iOS and Android Mobile Apps, My. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
AgilePoint NX v8.0 SU2.2 & SU2.3 - Arbitrary File Delete Vulnerability allows arbitrary file deletion, by an unspecified request. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
OpenProject is open source project management software. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Ghost is an app for new-media creators with tools to build a website, publish content, send newsletters, and offer paid subscriptions to members. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), 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.
Engine.IO is the implementation of transport-based cross-browser/cross-device bi-directional communication layer for Socket.IO. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
Milesight NCR/camera version 71.8.0.6-r5 exposes credentials through an unspecified request. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Milesight NCR/camera version 71.8.0.6-r5 discloses sensitive information through an unspecified request. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
AXIS OS 11.0.X - 11.3.x use a static RSA key in legacy LUA-components to protect Axis-specific source code. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In the Linux kernel through 6.3.1, a use-after-free in Netfilter nf_tables when processing batch requests can be abused to perform arbitrary read and write operations on kernel memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A validation issue was addressed with improved input sanitization. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed by moving sensitive data to a more secure location. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A denial-of-service issue was addressed with improved memory handling. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with additional permissions checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Multiple validation issues were addressed with improved input sanitization. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved entitlements. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with a new entitlement. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A validation issue was addressed with improved input sanitization. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read issue was addressed with improved input validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed by removing the vulnerable code. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with additional restrictions on the observability of app states. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A privacy issue was addressed with improved private data redaction for log entries. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved bounds checking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability exists in Aruba InstantOS and ArubaOS 10 where an edge-case combination of network configuration, a specific WLAN environment and an attacker already possessing valid user credentials. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.8). No vendor patch available.
Privilege Context Switching Error vulnerability in Apache Software Foundation Apache Airflow.6.0. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Improper Authorization vulnerability in OTRS AG OTRS 8 (Websocket API backend) allows any as Agent authenticated attacker to track user behaviour and to gain live insight into overall system usage. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The myMail app through 14.30 for iOS sends cleartext credentials in a situation where STARTTLS is expected by a server. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
External Control of File Name or Path in GitHub repository unilogies/bumsys prior to 2.2.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
PHP Remote File Inclusion in GitHub repository unilogies/bumsys prior to 2.1.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel before 6.1.11. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Use After Free vulnerability could allow attackers to access freed memory to execute arbitrary code or crash the application.
IBM Storage Scale (IBM Spectrum Scale 5.1.0.0 through 5.1.2.9, 5.1.3.0 through 5.1.6.1 and IBM Elastic Storage Systems 6.1.0.0 through 6.1.2.5, 6.1.3.0 through 6.1.6.0) could allow a local user to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
llvm-project commit a0138390 was discovered to contain a segmentation fault via the component mlir::Type::isa<mlir::LLVM::LLVMVoidType. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is 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.
llvm-project commit a0138390 was discovered to contain a segmentation fault via the component matchAndRewriteSortOp<mlir::sparse_tensor::SortOp>(mlir::sparse_tensor::SortOp. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is 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.
llvm-project commit a0138390 was discovered to contain a segmentation fault via the component mlir::spirv::TargetEnv::TargetEnv(mlir::spirv::TargetEnvAttr). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is 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.