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 (68979)
Netty project is an event-driven asynchronous network application framework. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
SAP Disclosure Management - version 10.1, allows an authenticated attacker to exploit certain misconfigured application endpoints to read sensitive data. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SAP Solution Manager (Diagnostic Agent) - version 7.20, allows an authenticated attacker on Windows system to access a file containing sensitive data which can be used to access a configuration file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in the Arm Mali GPU Kernel Driver. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A cleartext storage of sensitive information vulnerability exists in PcVue versions 8.10 through 15.2.3. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Donation Button WordPress plugin through 4.0.0 does not properly check for privileges and nonce tokens in its "donation_button_twilio_send_test_sms" AJAX action, which may allow any users with an. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Motors WordPress plugin before 1.4.4 does not properly validate uploaded files for dangerous file types (such as .php) in an AJAX action, allowing an attacker to sign up on a victim's WordPress. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Booking calendar, Appointment Booking System WordPress plugin before 3.2.2 does not validate uploaded files, which could allow unauthenticated users to upload arbitrary files, such as PHP and. 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.
The Directorist WordPress plugin before 7.4.2.2 suffers from an IDOR vulnerability which an attacker can exploit to change the password of arbitrary users instead of his own. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The Listingo WordPress theme before 3.2.7 does not validate files to be uploaded via an AJAX action available to unauthenticated users, which could allow them to upload arbitrary files and lead to RCE. 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.
An Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One and Apex One as a Service could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information on affected installations. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Apex One and Apex One as a Service could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information on affected installations. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HCL Launch could allow a user with administrative privileges, including "Manage Security" permissions, the ability to recover a credential previously saved for performing authenticated LDAP searches. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
HP Support Assistant uses HP Performance Tune-up as a diagnostic tool. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A security vulnerability has been identified in HPE Nimble Storage Hybrid Flash Arrays and HPE Nimble Storage Secondary Flash Arrays which could potentially allow local disclosure of sensitive. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity vulnerability in Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE Nimble Storage Hybrid Flash Arrays and Nimble Storage Secondary Flash Arrays. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerabilities in the Aruba EdgeConnect Enterprise command line interface allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the underlying host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerabilities in the Aruba EdgeConnect Enterprise command line interface allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the underlying host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerabilities in the Aruba EdgeConnect Enterprise command line interface allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the underlying host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerabilities in the Aruba EdgeConnect Enterprise command line interface allow remote authenticated users to run arbitrary commands on the underlying host. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability exists in the API of Aruba EdgeConnect Enterprise. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Aruba has identified certain configurations of ArubaOS that can lead to sensitive information disclosure from the configured ESSIDs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
An authenticated attacker can impact the integrity of the ArubaOS bootloader on 7xxx series controllers. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In IFM Moneo Appliance with version up to 1.9.3 an unauthenticated remote attacker can reset the administrator password by only supplying the serial number and thus gain full control of the device. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Jenkins Gitea Plugin 1.4.4 and earlier, the implementation of Gitea personal access tokens did not support credentials masking, potentially exposing them through the build log. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol functionality of Cisco ATA 190 Series Analog Telephone Adapter firmware could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on an. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SQLite through 3.40.0, when relying on --safe for execution of an untrusted CLI script, does not properly implement the azProhibitedFunctions protection mechanism, and instead allows UDF functions. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Under certain conditions, an attacker authenticated as a CMS administrator and with high privileges access to the Network in SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform (Monitoring DB) -. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Bluetooth® Pairing in Bluetooth Core Specification v1.0B through v5.3 may permit an unauthenticated MITM to acquire credentials with two pairing devices via adjacent access when at least one device. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Bluetooth® Low Energy Pairing in Bluetooth Core Specification v4.0 through v5.3 may permit an unauthenticated MITM to acquire credentials with two pairing devices via adjacent access when the MITM. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
The web portal of Dragino Lora LG01 18ed40 IoT v4.3.4 has the directory listing at the URL https://10.10.20.74/lib/. 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.
Sensitive Cookie in HTTPS Session Without 'Secure' Attribute in GitHub repository thorsten/phpmyfaq prior to 3.1.9. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
FreshRSS is a free, self-hostable RSS aggregator. 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.
User invites for Funkwhale v1.2.8 do not permanently expire after being used for signup and can be used again after an account has been deleted. 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 network misconfiguration is present in versions prior to 1.0.9.90 of the NETGEAR RAX30 AX2400 series of routers. Rated critical severity (CVSS 10.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
There is an error in the condition of the last if-statement in the function smp_check_keys. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Openshift 4.9 does not use HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) which may allow man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerability in the remote backups application on Western Digital My Cloud devices that could allow an attacker who has gained access to a relevant endpoint to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
xrdp is an open source project which provides a graphical login to remote machines using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
xrdp is an open source project which provides a graphical login to remote machines using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
xrdp is an open source project which provides a graphical login to remote machines using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
xrdp is an open source project which provides a graphical login to remote machines using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Brocade SANnav before v2.2.1 logs usernames and encoded passwords in debug-enabled logs. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
PrestaShop is an open-source e-commerce solution. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), 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.
Traefik is an open source HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
go-merkledag implements the 'DAGService' interface and adds two ipld node types, Protobuf and Raw for the ipfs project. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Traefik is an open source HTTP reverse proxy and load balancer. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Weak reset token generation in SeedDMS v6.0.20 and v5.1.7 allows attackers to execute a full account takeover via a brute force attack. 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 JetBrains TeamCity between 2022.10 and 2022.10.1 connecting to AWS using the "Default Credential Provider Chain" allowed TeamCity project administrators to access AWS resources normally limited to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA before 2022.3 the built-in web server leaked information about open projects. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In certain Secustation products the administrator account password can be read. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Teleport v3.2.2, Teleport v3.5.6-rc6, and Teleport v3.6.3-b2 was discovered to contain an information leak via the /user/get-role-list web interface. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in buildah. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A flaw was found in Openshift. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information from an Unauthorized Actor vulnerability in Samsung DisplayManagerService prior to Android T(13) allows local attacker to access connected DLNA device information. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor in Persona Manager prior to Android T(13) allows local attacker to access user profiles information. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper handling of insufficient permissions vulnerability in setSecureFolderPolicy in PersonaManagerService prior to Android T(13) allows local attackers to set some setting value in Secure folder. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper check or handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability in Samsung Pass prior to version 4.0.06.1 allows attacker to access Samsung Pass. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insufficient verification of data authenticity vulnerability in Samsung Gear IconX PC Manager prior to version 2.1.221019.51 allows local attackers to create arbitrary file using symbolic link. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability in Samsung Settings prior to SMR Dec-2022 Release 1 allows local attackers to access the Network Access Identifier via log. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper access control vulnerability in RCS call prior to SMR Dec-2022 Release 1 allows local attackers to access RCS incoming call number. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability in kernel prior to SMR Dec-2022 Release 1 allows attackers to access the kernel address information via log. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Rapid7 Nexpose and InsightVM versions prior to 6.6.172 failed to reliably validate the authenticity of update contents. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Certifi is a curated collection of Root Certificates for validating the trustworthiness of SSL certificates while verifying the identity of TLS hosts. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds read in gather_tree in PaddlePaddle before 2.4. 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.
A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in maku-boot up to 2.2.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Improper validation of syntactic correctness of input vulnerability exist in Movable Type series. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability exists in CX-Programmer v.9.77 and earlier, which may lead to information disclosure and/or arbitrary code execution by having a user to open a specially. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Out-of-bounds write vulnerability exists in CX-Programmer v.9.77 and earlier, which may lead to information disclosure and/or arbitrary code execution by having a user to open a specially crafted CXP. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use-after free vulnerability exists in CX-Programmer v.9.77 and earlier, which may lead to information disclosure and/or arbitrary code execution by having a user to open a specially crafted CXP file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
External initialization of trusted variables or data stores vulnerability exists in WordPress Popular Posts 6.0.5 and earlier, therefore the vulnerable product accepts untrusted external inputs to. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
tdpServer of TP-Link RE300 V1 improperly processes its input, which may allow an attacker to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition of the product's OneMesh function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
ILIAS before 7.16 allows External Control of File Name or Path. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Guests can trigger deadlock in Linux netback driver T[his CNA information record relates to multiple CVEs; the text explains which aspects/vulnerabilities correspond to which CVE.] The patch for. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Guests can trigger deadlock in Linux netback driver T[his CNA information record relates to multiple CVEs; the text explains which aspects/vulnerabilities correspond to which CVE.] The patch for. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Redmine 5.x before 5.0.4 allows downloading of file attachments of any Issue or any Wiki page due to insufficient permission checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
TensorFlow is an open source platform for machine learning. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Out-of-bounds Read vulnerability could allow attackers to read data from memory outside the intended buffer boundaries.
Quarkus CORS filter allows simple GET and POST requests with invalid Origin to proceed. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
IBM Sterling Secure Proxy 6.0.3 uses weaker than expected cryptographic algorithms that could allow an attacker to decrypt highly sensitive information. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Passeo is an open source python password generator. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Multiple instances of improper input validation vulnerability in Fortinet FortiADC version 7.1.0, version 7.0.0 through 7.0.2 and version 6.2.4 and below allows an authenticated attacker to retrieve. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An insufficient logging [CWE-778] vulnerability in FortiSandbox versions 4.0.0 to 4.0.2, 3.2.0 to 3.2.3 and 3.1.0 to 3.1.5 and FortiDeceptor versions 4.2.0, 4.1.0 through 4.1.1, 4.0.0 through 4.0.2,. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability was found in FastCMS. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in TP-Link TL-WR740N. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In wlan driver, there is a possible missing permission check, This could lead to local information disclosure. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In wlan driver, there is a possible missing bounds check, This could lead to local denial of service in wlan services. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In wlan driver, there is a possible missing bounds check, This could lead to local denial of service in wlan services. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In wlan driver, there is a possible missing permission check, This could lead to local information disclosure. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In wlan driver, there is a possible missing bounds check, This could lead to local denial of service in wlan services. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information vulnerability in Hitachi JP1/Automatic Operation allows local users to gain sensitive information. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.