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 (69251)
Dapr Dashboard v0.1.0 through v0.10.0 is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control that allows attackers to obtain sensitive data. 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.
If folder security is misconfigured for Actian Zen PSQL BEFORE Patch Update 1 for Zen 15 SP1 (v15.11.005), Patch Update 4 for Zen 15 (v15.01.017), or Patch Update 5 for Zen 14 SP2 (v14.21.022), it. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the self-healing functionality of Cisco IOS XE Software for Embedded Wireless Controllers on Catalyst Access Points could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Multiple vulnerabilities in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) of Cisco IOS XE Wireless Controller Software for the Catalyst 9000 Family could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Joplin version 2.8.8 allows an external attacker to execute arbitrary commands remotely on any client that opens a link in a malicious markdown file, via Joplin. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Information Disclosure in Operator Client application in BVMS 10.1.1, 11.0 and 11.1.0 and VIDEOJET Decoder VJD-7513 versions 10.23 and 10.30 allows man-in-the-middle attacker to compromise. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
PingCentral versions prior to listed versions expose Spring Boot actuator endpoints that with administrative authentication return large amounts of sensitive environmental and application information. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
roccat_report_event in drivers/hid/hid-roccat.c in the Linux kernel through 5.19.12 has a race condition and resultant use-after-free in certain situations where a report is received while copying a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). No vendor patch available.
drivers/video/fbdev/smscufx.c in the Linux kernel through 5.19.12 has a race condition and resultant use-after-free if a physically proximate attacker removes a USB device while calling open(), aka a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
drivers/char/pcmcia/synclink_cs.c in the Linux kernel through 5.19.12 has a race condition and resultant use-after-free if a physically proximate attacker removes a PCMCIA device while calling ioctl,. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.2), this vulnerability is no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Bento4 1.6.0-639. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In Amazon AWS Redshift JDBC Driver (aka amazon-redshift-jdbc-driver or redshift-jdbc42) before 2.1.0.8, the Object Factory does not check the class type when instantiating an object from a class name. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
Discourse is an open source discussion platform. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
IBM Robotic Process Automation Clients are vulnerable to proxy credentials being exposed in upgrade logs. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Insufficiently Protected Credentials vulnerability could allow attackers to obtain user credentials due to weak protection mechanisms.
SnapCenter versions prior to 4.7 shipped without Content Security Policy (CSP) implemented which could allow certain types of attacks that otherwise would be prevented. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A misconfiguration in the Service Mode profile directory of Clash for Windows v0.19.9 allows attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary commands when Service Mode is activated. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Ampere Altra and Ampere Altra Max devices through 2022-07-15 allow attacks via Hertzbleed, which is a power side-channel attack that extracts secret information from the CPU by correlating the power. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Weak Password Requirements in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.4.9. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
In PHP versions before 7.4.31, 8.0.24 and 8.1.11, the vulnerability enables network and same-site attackers to set a standard insecure cookie in the victim's browser which is treated as a `__Host-`. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Deep Security 20 and Cloud One - Workload Security Agent for Windows could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information on affected. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Deep Security 20 and Cloud One - Workload Security Agent for Windows could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information on affected. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An Out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Trend Micro Deep Security 20 and Cloud One - Workload Security Agent for Windows could allow a local attacker to disclose sensitive information on affected. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Use of Cache Containing Sensitive Information in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Dell Networking OS10, versions prior to October 2021 with Smart Fabric Services enabled, contains an information disclosure vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
When creating an OPERATOR user account on the BMC, the redfish plugin saved the auto-generated password to /etc/fwupd/redfish.conf without proper restriction, allowing any user on the system to read. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A flaw was discovered in ECE before 3.1.1 that could lead to the disclosure of the SAML signing private key used for the RBAC features, in deployment logs in the Logging and Monitoring cluster. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Matrix Javascript SDK is the Matrix Client-Server SDK for JavaScript. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
readelf in ToaruOS 2.0.1 has some arbitrary address read vulnerabilities when parsing a crafted ELF file. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
IBM WebSphere Application Server 7.0, 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 is vulnerable to server-side request forgery (SSRF). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In Carlo Gavazzi UWP3.0 in multiple versions and CPY Car Park Server in Version 2.8.3 an remote attacker with admin rights could execute arbitrary commands due to missing input sanitization in the. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In affected versions of Octopus Deploy it is possible to reveal the Space ID of spaces that the user does not have access to view in an error message when a resource is part of another Space. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
In ovs versions v0.90.0 through v2.5.0 are vulnerable to heap buffer over-read in flow.c. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.1), 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.
Just like in the previous report, an attacker could steal the account of different users. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Smart eVision has insufficient authorization for task acquisition function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
smart eVision has inadequate authorization for system information query function. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Smart eVision has inadequate authorization for the database query function. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Armoury Crate Service’s logging function has insufficient validation to check if the log file is a symbolic link. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in EyesOfNetwork (EON) through 5.3.11. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Zammad 5.2.1 has a fine-grained permission model that allows to configure read-only access to tickets. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Chipolo ONE Bluetooth tracker (2020) Chipolo iOS app version 4.13.0 is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
mailcow is a mailserver suite. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Insufficient data validation in Mojo in Google Chrome prior to 105.0.5195.102 allowed a remote attacker who had compromised the renderer process to potentially perform a sandbox escape via a crafted. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Insufficient policy enforcement in DevTools in Google Chrome prior to 105.0.5195.52 allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Inappropriate implementation in Pointer Lock in Google Chrome on Mac prior to 105.0.5195.52 allowed a remote attacker to restrict user navigation 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.
Insufficient validation of untrusted input in Intents in Google Chrome on Android prior to 104.0.5112.101 allowed a remote attacker to arbitrarily browse to a malicious website via a crafted HTML. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
off-by-one in io_uring module. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Improper Cleanup on Thrown Exception in GitHub repository ikus060/rdiffweb prior to 2.4.8. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
ieGeek IG20 hipcam RealServer V1.0 is vulnerable to Incorrect Access Control. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Contec FXA3200 version 1.13.00 and under suffers from Insecure Permissions in the Wireless LAN Manager interface which allows malicious actors to execute Linux commands with root privilege via a. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in Zimbra Collaboration (ZCS) 8.8.x and 9.x (e.g., 8.8.15). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
registerFont in FontMetrics.php in Dompdf before 2.0.1 allows remote file inclusion because a URI validation failure does not halt font registration, as demonstrated by a @font-face rule. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The secp256k1-js package before 1.1.0 for Node.js implements ECDSA without required r and s validation, leading to signature forgery. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Nepxion Discovery is a solution for Spring Cloud. 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.
Frontier is an Ethereum compatibility layer for Substrate. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Besu is a Java-based Ethereum client. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This vulnerability exists in Tacitine Firewall, all versions of EN6200-PRIME QUAD-35 and EN6200-PRIME QUAD-100 between 19.1.1 to 22.20.1 (inclusive), due to improper session management in the. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v5 where the getUserMentionsByChannel meteor server method discloses messages from private channels and direct messages regardless of the. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.chat <v5, <v4.8.2 and <v4.7.5 where the lack of ACL checks in the getRoomRoles Meteor method leak channel members with special roles to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A NoSQL-Injection information disclosure vulnerability vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v5, <v4.8.2 and <v4.7.5 in the getS3FileUrl Meteor server method that can disclose arbitrary file upload. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An out-of-bounds read issue was addressed with improved input validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), 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 7.1), 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 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An information disclosure 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.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. 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.
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.
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. 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 bounds checking. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved memory handling. 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 memory handling. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A memory initialization issue was addressed with improved memory handling. 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 memory handling. 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 bounds checking. 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 UI handling. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved file handling. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The issue was addressed with improved handling of caches. 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 bounds checking. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with improved checks. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue in the handling of environment variables was addressed with improved validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rockert.Chat <v5 due to /api/v1/chat.getThreadsList lack of sanitization of user inputs and can therefore leak private thread messages to unauthorized. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v5, <v4.8.2 and <v4.7.5 since the getReadReceipts Meteor server method does not properly filter user inputs that are passed to MongoDB. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A cleartext transmission of sensitive information exists in Rocket.Chat <v5, <v4.8.2 and <v4.7.5 relating to Oauth tokens by having the permission "view-full-other-user-info", this could cause an. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v5 due to the getUserMentionsByChannel meteor server method discloses messages from private channels and direct messages regardless of. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v4.7.5 which allowed the "users.list" REST endpoint gets a query parameter from JSON and runs Users.find(queryFromClientSide). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
An information disclosure vulnerability exists in Rocket.Chat <v5, <v4.8.2 and <v4.7.5 due to the actionLinkHandler method was found to allow Message ID Enumeration with Regex MongoDB queries. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A cleartext storage of sensitive information exists in Rocket.Chat <v4.6.4 due to Oauth token being leaked in plaintext in Rocket.chat logs. 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.
An issue in the handling of environment variables was addressed with improved validation. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.