771
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 312 Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information 764
Relevant to the view "Architectural Concepts" (CWE-1008)
Nature Type ID Name Page
MemberOf 1013 Encrypt Data 2428
Applicable Platforms
Language : Not Language-Specific (Prevalence = Undetermined)
Common Consequences
Scope Impact Likelihood
Confidentiality Read Application Data
Detection Methods
Automated Static Analysis
Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST),
can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code)
without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control
flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input)
with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such
as the OS, etc.)
Effectiveness = High
Demonstrative Examples
Example 1:
The following examples show a portion of properties and configuration files for Java and ASP.NET
applications. The files include username and password information but they are stored in cleartext.
This Java example shows a properties file with a cleartext username / password pair.
Example Language: Java (Bad)
# Java Web App ResourceBundle properties file
...
webapp.ldap.username=secretUsername
webapp.ldap.password=secretPassword
...
The following example shows a portion of a configuration file for an ASP.Net application. This
configuration file includes username and password information for a connection to a database but
the pair is stored in cleartext.
Example Language: ASP.NET (Bad)
...
<connectionStrings>
<add name="ud_DEV" connectionString="connectDB=uDB; uid=db2admin; pwd=password; dbalias=uDB;"
providerName="System.Data.Odbc" />
</connectionStrings>
...
CWE Version 4.14
CWE-314: Cleartext Storage in the Registry
CWE-314: Cleartext Storage in the Registry