Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable

Opis

The product uses an environment variable to store unencrypted sensitive information.

Information stored in an environment variable can be accessible by other processes with the execution context, including child processes that dependencies are executed in, or serverless functions in cloud environments. An environment variable's contents can also be inserted into messages, headers, log files, or other outputs. Often these other dependencies have no need to use the environment variable in question. A weakness that discloses environment variables could expose this information.

Skutki

• Confidentiality

  Read Application Data

Zapobieganie

• Architecture and Design

  Encrypt information stored in the environment variable to protect it from being exposed to an unauthorized user. If encryption is not feasible or is considered too expensive for the business use of the application, then consider using a properly protected configuration file instead of an environment variable. It should be understood that unencrypted information in a config file is also not guaranteed to be protected, but it is still a better choice, because it reduces attack surface related to weaknesses such as CWE-214. In some settings, vaults might be a feasible option for safer data transfer. Users should be notified of the business choice made to not protect the sensitive information through encryption.

• Implementation

  If the environment variable is not necessary for the desired behavior, then remove it entirely, or clear it to an empty value.

Przykłady podatności

• CVE-2022-43691 CMS shows sensitive server-side information from environment variables when run in Debug mode.
• CVE-2022-27195 Plugin for an automation server inserts environment variable contents into build XML files.
• CVE-2022-25264 CI/CD tool logs environment variables related to passwords add Contribution to content history.

Słabość nadrzędna

• CWE-312 Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information

Pokrewna

• CWE-214 Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information

Kiedy powstaje

• Architecture and Design
• Implementation
• Operation

Dotyczy

Not Language-Specific

Źródła

1. Analyzing the Hidden Danger of Environment Variables for Keeping Secrets — David Fiser, Alfredo Oliveira, 2022
2. Using environment variables is security-sensitive — Nicolas Harraudeau, 2021