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 (69443)
A bug exists where an attacker can read the kernel log through exposed Zircon kernel addresses without the required capability ZX_RSRC_KIND_ROOT. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In Shopizer versions 2.3.0 to 3.0.1 are vulnerable to Insufficient Session Expiration. 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 in the web services interface for remote access VPN features of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an. 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 in an IPsec VPN library of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to read. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
Links may not be rewritten according to policy in some specially formatted emails. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
When a password reset mechanism is configured to use the Authentication API with an Authentication Policy, email One-Time Password, PingID or SMS authentication, an existing user can reset another. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability exists in the HCI Modbus TCP function included in the product versions listed above. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A memory leak was discovered in matio 1.5.21 and earlier in Mat_VarReadNextInfo5() in mat5.c via a crafted file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
ShopXO v2.2.5 and below was discovered to contain a system re-install vulnerability via the Add function in app/install/controller/Index.php. 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.
RG-NBR-E Enterprise Gateway RG-NBR2100G-E was discovered to contain an arbitrary file read vulnerability via the url parameter in check.php. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Snipe-IT, versions v3.0-alpha to v5.3.7 are vulnerable to Host Header Injection. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in the Linux kernel through 5.17.5. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
All versions of package jsgui-lang-essentials are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution due to allowing all Object attributes to be altered, including their magical attributes such as proto, constructor. 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 package convict before 6.2.2 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution via the convict function due to missing validation of parentKey. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
This affects all versions of package org.nanohttpd:nanohttpd. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The package dexie before 3.2.2, from 4.0.0-alpha.1 and before 4.0.0-alpha.3 are vulnerable to Prototype Pollution in the Dexie.setByKeyPath(obj, keyPath, value) function which does not properly check. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
An issue was discovered in MediaWiki through 1.37.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
DJI drone devices sold in 2017 through 2022 broadcast unencrypted information about the drone operator's physical location via the AeroScope protocol. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
USU Oracle Optimization before 5.17.5 allows attackers to discover the quantum credentials via an agent-installer download. 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.
ASDA-Soft: Version 5.4.1.0 and prior does not properly sanitize input while processing a specific project file, allowing a possible out-of-bounds read condition. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was found in the pfkey_register function in net/key/af_key.c in the Linux kernel. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. This Exposure of Sensitive Information vulnerability could allow attackers to access sensitive data that should not be disclosed.
A privilege escalation flaw was found in Podman. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A heap-use-after-free flaw was found in ImageMagick's RelinquishDCMInfo() function of dcm.c file. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
DSCMS v3.0 was discovered to contain an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability via /controller/Adv.php. 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.
Shopware is an open source e-commerce software platform. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
A vulnerability in Zoom On-Premise Meeting Connector Controller version 4.8.102.20220310 and On-Premise Meeting Connector MMR version 4.8.102.20220310 exposes process memory fragments to connected. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Zoom Client for Meetings for MacOS (Standard and for IT Admin) prior to version 5.9.6 failed to properly check the package version during the update process. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Encode OSS httpx < 0.23.0 is affected by improper input validation in `httpx.URL`, `httpx.Client` and some functions using `httpx.URL.copy_with`. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
In JetBrains PyCharm before 2022.1 exposure of the debugger port to the internal network was possible. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA before 2022.1 origin checks in the internal web server were flawed. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA before 2022.1 notification mechanisms about using Unicode directionality formatting characters were insufficient. Rated low severity (CVSS 2.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
cifs-utils through 6.14, with verbose logging, can cause an information leak when a file contains = (equal sign) characters but is not a valid credentials file. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
component/common/network/dhcp/dhcps.c in ambiot amb1_sdk (aka SDK for Ameba1) before 2022-03-11 mishandles data structures for DHCP packet data. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Linksys MR9600 devices before 2.0.5 allow attackers to read arbitrary files via a symbolic link to the root directory of a NAS SMB share. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
IBM UrbanCode Deploy (UCD) 7.2.2.1 could allow an authenticated user with special permissions to obtain elevated privileges due to improper handling of permissions. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability in SonicOS SNMP service resulting exposure of Wireless Access Point sensitive information in cleartext. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in SonicOS SNMP service resulting exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized user. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Miele Benchmark Programming Tool with versions Prior to 1.2.71, executable files manipulated by attackers are unknowingly executed with users privileges. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Nextcloud Server is the file server software for Nextcloud, a self-hosted productivity platform. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Nextcloud Android app is the Android client for Nextcloud, a self-hosted productivity platform. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Hashicorp go-getter library before 1.5.11 does not redact an SSH key from a URL query parameter. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
An access control issue in Zammad v5.0.3 broadcasts administrative configuration changes to all users who have an active application instance, including settings that should only be visible to. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources from an unintended security context.
Foundry Issues service versions 2.244.0 to 2.249.0 was found to be logging in a manner that captured sensitive information (session tokens). Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
GreenCMS v2.3.0603 was discovered to contain an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability via /index.php?m=admin&c=custom&a=plugindelhandle&plugin_name=. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
ZCMS v20170206 was discovered to contain a file inclusion vulnerability via index.php?m=home&c=home&a=sp_set_config. 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.
Discourse Assign is a plugin for assigning users to a topic in Discourse, an open-source messaging platform. 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.
Apache Doris, prior to 1.0.0, used a hardcoded key and IV to initialize the cipher used for ldap password, which may lead to information disclosure. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In Apache CouchDB prior to 3.2.2, an attacker can access an improperly secured default installation without authenticating and gain admin privileges. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The Web To Print Shop : uDraw WordPress plugin before 3.3.3 does not validate the url parameter in its udraw_convert_url_to_base64 AJAX action (available to both unauthenticated and authenticated. 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.
Non Privilege User can Enable or Disable Registered in GitHub repository openemr/openemr prior to 6.1.0.1. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Non-Privilege User Can View Patient’s Disclosures in GitHub repository openemr/openemr prior to 6.1.0.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Out-of-bounds Read in r_bin_java_bootstrap_methods_attr_new function in GitHub repository radareorg/radare2 prior to 5.7.0. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Out-of-bounds Read in mrb_obj_is_kind_of in in GitHub repository mruby/mruby prior to 3.2. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
During an internal product security audit a potential vulnerability due to use of Boot Services in the SmmOEMInt15 SMI handler was discovered in some ThinkPad models could be exploited by an attacker. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability was reported in Lenovo System Update that could allow a local user with interactive system access the ability to execute code with elevated privileges only during the installation of. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
service_windows.go in the kardianos service package for Go omits quoting that is sometimes needed for execution of a Windows service executable from the intended directory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
In the Linux kernel before 5.17.3, fs/io_uring.c has a use-after-free due to a race condition in io_uring timeouts. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.0). Public exploit code available.
FreeType commit 22a0cccb4d9d002f33c1ba7a4b36812c7d4f46b5 was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the function FT_Request_Size. 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.
FreeType commit 53dfdcd8198d2b3201a23c4bad9190519ba918db was discovered to contain a segmentation violation via the function FNT_Size_Request. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Dell EMC Repository Manager version 3.4.0 contains a plain-text password storage vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
KiteCMS v1.1.1 was discovered to contain an arbitrary file read vulnerability via the background management module. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
UCMS v1.6 was discovered to contain an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The Bulletproofs 2017/1066 paper mishandles Fiat-Shamir generation because the hash computation fails to include all of the public values from the Zero Knowledge proof statement as well as all of the. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in Kibana could expose sensitive information related to Elastic Stack monitoring in the Kibana page source. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
<Issue Description> Spring Security OAuth versions 2.5.x prior to 2.5.2 and older unsupported versions are susceptible to a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack via the initiation of the Authorization. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
A vulnerability in the software upgrade process of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) could allow. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the key-based SSH authentication mechanism of Cisco Umbrella Virtual Appliance (VA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to impersonate a VA. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
The CVEProject/cve-services is an open source project used to operate the CVE services api. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
GLPI is a Free Asset and IT Management Software package, that provides ITIL Service Desk features, licenses tracking and software auditing. 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.
Use of Out-of-range Pointer Offset in GitHub repository vim/vim prior to 8.2.4774. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
gp_rtp_builder_do_hevc in ietf/rtp_pck_mpeg4.c in GPAC 2.0.0 has a heap-based buffer over-read, as demonstrated by MP4Box. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Shopware is an open commerce platform based on Symfony Framework and Vue. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Incorrect Permission Assignment vulnerability could allow attackers to access resources due to misconfigured permissions.
HumHub is an Open Source Enterprise Social Network. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A malicious actor having access to the exported configuration file may obtain the stored credentials and thereby gain access to the protected resource. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
There is no limit to the number of attempts to authenticate for the local configuration pages for the Hills ComNav Version 3002-19 interface, which allows local attackers to brute-force credentials. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Hills ComNav version 3002-19 suffers from a weak communication channel. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The weak password on the web user interface can be exploited via HTTP or HTTPS. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A flaw was found in ovn-kubernetes. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The generic P-256 feature in crypto/elliptic in Go before 1.17.9 and 1.18.x before 1.18.1 allows a panic via long scalar input. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Certificate.Verify in crypto/x509 in Go 1.18.x before 1.18.1 can be caused to panic on macOS when presented with certain malformed certificates. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
In APache APISIX before 3.13.1, the jwt-auth plugin has a security issue that leaks the user's secret key because the error message returned from the dependency lua-resty-jwt contains sensitive. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Databasir is a team-oriented relational database model document management platform. 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.
Sensitive Information Exposure in E4J s.r.l. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Cluster product of Oracle MySQL (component: Cluster: General). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3). No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Cluster product of Oracle MySQL (component: Cluster: General). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3). No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Cluster product of Oracle MySQL (component: Cluster: General). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3). No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Cluster product of Oracle MySQL (component: Cluster: General). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.3). No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in Oracle GoldenGate (component: OGG Core Library). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management product of Oracle Communications Applications (component: Connection Manager). Rated critical severity (CVSS 10.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.