533
Mapped Taxonomy Name Node ID Fit Mapped Node Name
PLOVER Timing discrepancy infoleak
Related Attack Patterns
CAPEC-ID Attack Pattern Name
462 Cross-Domain Search Timing
541 Application Fingerprinting
580 System Footprinting
CWE-209: Generation of Error Message Containing Sensitive Information
Weakness ID : 209
Structure : Simple
Abstraction : Base
Description
The product generates an error message that includes sensitive information about its environment,
users, or associated data.
Extended Description
The sensitive information may be valuable information on its own (such as a password), or it may
be useful for launching other, more serious attacks. The error message may be created in different
ways:
• self-generated: the source code explicitly constructs the error message and delivers it
• externally-generated: the external environment, such as a language interpreter, handles the
error and constructs its own message, whose contents are not under direct control by the
programmer
An attacker may use the contents of error messages to help launch another, more focused attack.
For example, an attempt to exploit a path traversal weakness (CWE-22) might yield the full
pathname of the installed application. In turn, this could be used to select the proper number of
".." sequences to navigate to the targeted file. An attack using SQL injection (CWE-89) might not
initially succeed, but an error message could reveal the malformed query, which would expose
query logic and possibly even passwords or other sensitive information used within the query.
Relationships
The table(s) below shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this
weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOr and give insight to
similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such
as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that may want to be explored.
Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (CWE-1000)
Nature Type ID Name Page
ChildOf 755 Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions 1576
ChildOf 200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor 504
ParentOf 210 Self-generated Error Message Containing Sensitive
Information