CWE-315 Variant Draft

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in a Cookie

This vulnerability occurs when an application directly stores sensitive data, like session tokens or personal details, in a browser cookie without encryption.

Definition

What is CWE-315?

This vulnerability occurs when an application directly stores sensitive data, like session tokens or personal details, in a browser cookie without encryption.
Storing sensitive information in plain text within a cookie exposes it to immediate theft. Attackers can easily intercept or extract these cookies using common browser tools or network sniffers, gaining direct access to user credentials, session IDs, or other private data. Even if the data is encoded (e.g., using Base64), it does not provide security. Encoding is easily reversible, and attackers can quickly identify the encoding method and decode the information. To be secure, sensitive data in cookies must always be properly encrypted and integrity-protected.
Auswirkungen in der Praxis

Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-315

  • CVE-2002-1800

    Admin password in cleartext 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.

Wie Angreifer es ausnutzen

Angreiferpfad Schritt für Schritt

  1. 1

    Identifiziere einen Codepfad, der nicht vertrauenswürdige Eingaben ohne Validierung verarbeitet.

  2. 2

    Erzeuge eine Payload, die das unsichere Verhalten auslöst — Injection, Traversal, Overflow oder Logik-Missbrauch.

  3. 3

    Liefere die Payload über einen normalen Request aus und beobachte die Reaktion der Anwendung.

  4. 4

    Iteriere, bis die Antwort Daten preisgibt, Angreifer-Code ausführt oder Berechtigungen eskaliert.

Verwundbares Codebeispiel

Vulnerable Java

The following code excerpt stores a plaintext user account ID in a browser cookie.

Verwundbar Java 
response.addCookie( new Cookie("userAccountID", acctID) );
Sicheres Codebeispiel

Secure pseudo

Sicher pseudo 
// Validate, sanitize, or use a safe API before reaching the sink.
function handleRequest(input) {
  const safe = validateAndEscape(input);
  return executeWithGuards(safe);
}
What changed: the unsafe sink is replaced (or the input is validated/escaped) so the same payload no longer triggers the weakness.
Präventions-Checkliste

How to prevent CWE-315

  • Architecture Use safe-by-default frameworks and APIs that prevent the unsafe pattern from being expressible.
  • Implementation Validate input at trust boundaries; use allowlists, not denylists.
  • Implementation Apply the principle of least privilege to credentials, file paths, and runtime permissions.
  • Testing Cover this weakness in CI: SAST rules + targeted unit tests for the data flow.
  • Operation Monitor logs for the runtime signals listed in the next section.
Erkennungssignale

How to detect CWE-315

Automated Static Analysis High

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.)

Plexicus Auto-Fix

Plexicus erkennt CWE-315 automatisch und öffnet in unter 60 Sekunden einen Fix-PR.

Codex Remedium scannt jeden Commit, identifiziert genau diese Schwachstelle und liefert einen reviewer-ready Pull Request mit dem Patch. Keine Tickets. Keine Hand-offs.

Demo anfordern Plexicus kostenlos testen
Häufig gestellte Fragen

Frequently asked questions

Was ist CWE-315?

This vulnerability occurs when an application directly stores sensitive data, like session tokens or personal details, in a browser cookie without encryption.

Wie gravierend ist CWE-315?

MITRE hat für diese Schwachstelle keine Exploit-Wahrscheinlichkeit veröffentlicht. Behandle sie als mittlere Auswirkung, bis dein Threat Model anderes belegt.

Welche Sprachen oder Plattformen sind von CWE-315 betroffen?

MITRE hat für diese CWE keine betroffenen Plattformen spezifiziert — sie kann in den meisten Anwendungs-Stacks auftreten.

Wie kann ich CWE-315 verhindern?

Use safe-by-default frameworks, validate untrusted input at trust boundaries, and apply the principle of least privilege. Cover the data-flow signature in CI with SAST.

Wie erkennt und behebt Plexicus CWE-315?

Die SAST-Engine von Plexicus erkennt die Datenfluss-Signatur von CWE-315 bei jedem Commit. Bei einem Treffer öffnet unser Codex-Remedium-Agent einen Fix-PR mit korrigiertem Code, Tests und einer einzeiligen Zusammenfassung für den Reviewer.

Wo erfahre ich mehr über CWE-315?

MITRE veröffentlicht die kanonische Definition unter https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/315.html. Für ergänzende Hinweise kannst du auch die OWASP- und NIST-Dokumentation heranziehen.

Verwandte Schwachstellen

Weaknesses related to CWE-315

CWE-312 Parent

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information

This vulnerability occurs when an application stores sensitive data like passwords, credit card numbers, or personal information in plain…

CWE-313 Sibling

Cleartext Storage in a File or on Disk

This vulnerability occurs when an application writes sensitive data, such as passwords or personal information, directly to a file or disk…

CWE-314 Sibling

Cleartext Storage in the Registry

This vulnerability occurs when an application saves sensitive data, like passwords or keys, as plain text in the Windows Registry.

CWE-316 Sibling

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in Memory

This vulnerability occurs when an application stores sensitive data, such as passwords or encryption keys, in memory without any form of…

CWE-317 Sibling

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in GUI

This vulnerability occurs when an application stores sensitive data, such as passwords or personal information, in plain text within its…

CWE-318 Sibling

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in Executable

This vulnerability occurs when an application embeds sensitive information, like passwords or keys, directly within its executable code…

CWE-526 Sibling

Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable

This vulnerability occurs when an application stores sensitive data, such as passwords or API keys, as plain text in an environment…

Ressourcen

Further reading

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