Plaintext Storage in a Cookie| ID: 315 | Date: (C)2012-05-14 (M)2022-10-10 |
| Type: weakness | Status: DRAFT |
| Abstraction Type: Variant |
Description
Storing sensitive data in plaintext in a cookie makes the data
more easily accessible than if encrypted. This significantly lowers the
difficulty of exploitation by attackers.
Applicable PlatformsLanguage Class: All
Time Of Introduction
Related Attack Patterns
Common Consequences
| Scope | Technical Impact | Notes |
|---|
| Confidentiality | Read application
data | |
Detection MethodsNone
Potential Mitigations
| Phase | Strategy | Description | Effectiveness | Notes |
|---|
| | | Sensitive information should not be stored in plaintext in a cookie.
Even if heavy fortifications are in place, sensitive data should be
encrypted to prevent the risk of losing confidentiality. | | |
Relationships
| Related CWE | Type | View | Chain |
|---|
| CWE-315 ChildOf CWE-895 | Category | CWE-888 | |
Demonstrative Examples (Details)
- The following code excerpt stores a plaintext user account ID in a
browser cookie. (Demonstrative Example Id DX-44)
Observed Examples
- CVE-2002-1800 : Admin password in plaintext in a cookie.
- CVE-2001-1537 : Default configuration has cleartext usernames/passwords in cookie.
- CVE-2001-1536 : Usernames/passwords in cleartext in cookies.
- CVE-2005-2160 : Authentication information stored in cleartext in a cookie.
For more examples, refer to CVE relations in the bottom box.
White Box Definitions None
Black Box Definitions None
Taxynomy Mappings
| Taxynomy | Id | Name | Fit |
|---|
| PLOVER | | Plaintext Storage in Cookie | |
References:None
