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Weakness (CWE)

CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

Base Draft

The product transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors.

How to prevent it (5 mitigations)

  1. Architecture and Design

    Before transmitting, encrypt the data using reliable, confidentiality-protecting cryptographic protocols.

  2. Implementation

    When using web applications with SSL, use SSL for the entire session from login to logout, not just for the initial login page.

  3. Implementation

    When designing hardware platforms, ensure that approved encryption algorithms (such as those recommended by NIST) protect paths from security critical data to trusted user applications.

  4. Testing

    Use tools and techniques that require manual (human) analysis, such as penetration testing, threat modeling, and interactive tools that allow the tester to record and modify an active session. These may be more effective than strictly automated techniques. This is especially the case with weaknesses that are related to design and business rules.

  5. Operation

    Configure servers to use encrypted channels for communication, which may include SSL or other secure protocols.

Source: MITRE CWE-319

All Critical High Medium Low Exploited only Public exploit

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