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 (69731)
A logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, 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 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A logic issue was addressed with improved restrictions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This issue was addressed with a new entitlement. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An access issue was addressed with additional sandbox restrictions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A path handling issue was addressed with improved validation. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
tiki-login.php in Tiki before 21.2 sets the admin password to a blank value after 50 invalid login attempts. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Elasticsearch versions before 6.8.13 and 7.9.2 contain a document disclosure flaw when Document or Field Level Security is used. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable. No vendor patch available.
HashiCorp Nomad and Nomad Enterprise version 0.9.0 up to 0.12.5 client file sandbox feature can be subverted using either the template or artifact stanzas. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in Octopus Deploy through 2020.4.4. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Biscom Secure File Transfer (SFT) before 5.1.1082 and 6.x before 6.0.1011 allows user credential theft. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The FileImporter extension in MediaWiki through 1.35.0 was not properly attributing various user actions to a specific user's IP address. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
In Python 3 through 3.9.0, the Lib/test/multibytecodec_support.py CJK codec tests call eval() on content retrieved via HTTP. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe After Effects version 17.1.1 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing a crafted .aepx file, which could result in a read past the end of an allocated memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
In Tensorflow before version 2.4.0, an attacker can pass an invalid `axis` value to `tf.quantization.quantize_and_dequantize`. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
Adobe Animate version 20.5 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability, which could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Animate version 20.5 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the TLS handler of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software for Cisco Firepower 1000 Series firewalls could allow an. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
A vulnerability in the sftunnel functionality of Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the multi-instance feature of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the container for their Cisco FTD instance and. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access hidden commands. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
The installation procedure in BigBlueButton before 2.2.28 (or earlier) uses ClueCon as the FreeSWITCH password, which allows local users to achieve unintended FreeSWITCH access. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.4), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Greenlight in BigBlueButton through 2.2.28 places usernames in room URLs, which may represent an unintended information leak to users in a room, or an information leak to outsiders if any user. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
BigBlueButton through 2.2.28 uses STUN/TURN resources from a third party, which may represent an unintended endpoint. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The installation procedure in BigBlueButton before 2.2.28 (or earlier) exposes certain network services to external interfaces, and does not automatically set up a firewall configuration to block. 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.
In BigBlueButton before 2.2.28 (or earlier), the client-side Mute button only signifies that the server should stop accepting audio data from the client. 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.
BigBlueButton before 2.2.28 (or earlier) does not set the secure flag for the session cookie in an https session, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture this cookie by intercepting its. 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.
BigBlueButton through 2.2.28 uses Ghostscript for processing of uploaded EPS documents, and consequently may be subject to attacks related to a "schwache Sandbox.". 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.
BigBlueButton before 2.3 does not implement LibreOffice sandboxing. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
BigBlueButton before 2.2.27 has an unsafe JODConverter setting in which LibreOffice document conversions can access external files. 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.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Console). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Console). 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.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server product of Oracle MySQL (component: Server: Security: LDAP Auth). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle VM VirtualBox product of Oracle Virtualization (component: Core). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Universal Work Queue product of Oracle E-Business Suite (component: Internal Operations). Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Core). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Hospitality OPERA 5 Property Services product of Oracle Hospitality Applications (component: Logging). Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Universal Work Queue product of Oracle E-Business Suite (component: Work Provider Administration). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Core). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the MySQL Server product of Oracle MySQL (component: Server: DML). Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Oracle WebLogic Server product of Oracle Fusion Middleware (component: Core). Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Vulnerability in the Scheduler component of Oracle Database Server. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
Vulnerability in the Oracle Text component of Oracle Database Server. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
A cleartext storage of sensitive information vulnerability in FortiOS command line interface in versions 6.2.4 and earlier and FortiProxy 2.0.0, 1.2.9 and earlier may allow an authenticated attacker. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Prior to 0.11.0-beta, LND (Lightning Network Daemon) had a vulnerability in its invoice database. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Prior to 0.10.0-beta, LND (Lightning Network Daemon) would have accepted a counterparty high-S signature and broadcast tx-relay invalid local commitment/HTLC transactions. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
Adobe Illustrator version 24.2 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing crafted PDF files. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Adobe Illustrator version 24.2 (and earlier) is affected by an out-of-bounds read vulnerability when parsing crafted PDF files. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
The Boxstarter installer before version 2.13.0 configures C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter to be in the system-wide PATH environment variable. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
InterMind iMind Server through 3.13.65 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to read the self-diagnostic archive via a direct api/rs/monitoring/rs/api/system/dump-diagnostic-info?server=127.0.0.1. 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.
Netwrix Account Lockout Examiner before 5.1 allows remote attackers to capture the Net-NTLMv1/v2 authentication challenge hash of the Domain Administrator (that is configured within the product in. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information vulnerability in the address bar of the Yandex Browser allows an attacker to obfuscate the true source of data as presented in the. 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.
User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information vulnerability in the address bar of Danyil Vasilenko's Bolt Browser allows an attacker to obfuscate the true source of data as presented. 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.
User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information vulnerability in the address bar of the Yandex Browser allows an attacker to obfuscate the true source of data as presented in the. 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.
User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information vulnerability in the address bar of UCWeb's UC Browser allows an attacker to obfuscate the true source of data as presented in the. 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.
User Interface (UI) Misrepresentation of Critical Information vulnerability in the address bar of UCWeb's UC Browser allows an attacker to obfuscate the true source of data as presented in the. 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.
VMware vCenter Server (6.7 before 6.7u3, 6.6 before 6.5u3k) contains a session hijack vulnerability in the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface update function due to a lack of certificate. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.4), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
VMware NSX-T (3.x before 3.0.2, 2.5.x before 2.5.2.2.0) contains a security vulnerability that exists in the way it allows a KVM host to download and install packages from NSX manager. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.9), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
VMware ESXi (7.0 before ESXi_7.0.1-0.0.16850804, 6.7 before ESXi670-202008101-SG, 6.5 before ESXi650-202007101-SG), Workstation (15.x), Fusion (11.x before 11.5.6) contain an out-of-bounds read. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.
IBM Spectrum Scale 5.0.0 through 5.0.5.2 does not set the secure attribute on authorization tokens or session cookies. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
SAP NetWeaver (Compare Systems) versions - 7.20, 7.30, 7.40, 7.50, does not sufficiently validate uploaded XML documents. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SAP 3D Visual Enterprise Viewer, version 9, allows an attacker to send certain manipulated file to the victim, which can lead to leakage of sensitive information when the victim loads the malicious. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
This affects the package @tsed/core before 5.65.7. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required. Public exploit code available.
On Windows the Veyon Service before version 4.4.2 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability, allowing locally authenticated users with administrative privileges to run malicious executables. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.7), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
A prototype pollution vulnerability has been found in `object-path` <= 0.11.4 affecting the `set()` method. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
Apache Kylin 2.0.0, 2.1.0, 2.2.0, 2.3.0, 2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4.0, 2.4.1, 2.5.0, 2.5.1, 2.5.2, 2.6.0, 2.6.1, 2.6.2, 2.6.3, 2.6.4, 2.6.5, 2.6.6, 3.0.0-alpha, 3.0.0-alpha2, 3.0.0-beta, 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2,. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
An issue was discovered in the yh_create_session() function of yubihsm-shell through 2.0.2. 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.
In webpack-subresource-integrity before version 1.5.1, all dynamically loaded chunks receive an invalid integrity hash that is ignored by the browser, and therefore the browser cannot validate their. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required.
GoPro gpmf-parser 1.5 has a heap out-of-bounds read and segfault in GPMF_ScaledData(). 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 mis-handling of invalid unicode characters in the Java implementation of Tink versions prior to 1.5 allows an attacker to change the ID part of a ciphertext, which result in the creation of a. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
SolarWinds N-Central version 12.3 GA and lower does not set the JSESSIONID attribute to HTTPOnly. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
SolarWinds N-central through 2020.1 allows session hijacking and requires user interaction or physical access. 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.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Network Watcher Agent virtual machine extension for Linux. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Service improperly handles file operations.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Service improperly handles file operations.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Service improperly handles file operations.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Service improperly handles file operations.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Service improperly handles file operations.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists in how Microsoft Exchange validates tokens when handling certain messages. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server fails to properly handle objects in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server fails to properly handle objects in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.0), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server fails to properly handle objects in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity.
<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Outlook software when the software fails to properly handle objects in memory. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), 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.
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server improperly discloses its folder structure when rendering specific web pages. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.1).
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft SharePoint Server improperly discloses its folder structure when rendering specific web pages. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.1).
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel improperly handles objects in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.5), this vulnerability is low attack complexity.
<p>An information disclosure vulnerability exists when the .NET Framework improperly handles objects in memory. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7).