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CWE-204 Base Incomplet
Observable Response Discrepancy
This vulnerability occurs when an application responds differently to similar requests, unintentionally leaking details about its internal state or logic to unauthorized users.
Définition
What is CWE-204?
This vulnerability occurs when an application responds differently to similar requests, unintentionally leaking details about its internal state or logic to unauthorized users.
Observable Response Discrepancy happens when an application's output—such as error messages, timing, or even subtle differences in page content—changes based on internal conditions. Attackers can probe these differences to infer sensitive information, like whether a username exists, if a file is present on the server, or the structure of a backend database, without triggering standard access controls.
To prevent this, developers must ensure their applications provide consistent, generic responses in all scenarios that could reveal system state. This involves standardizing error messages, implementing uniform response times for all outcomes (success or failure), and avoiding any output that changes based on hidden internal data. Treating all failed operations identically from the user's perspective closes this common information leak.
Impact réel
Real-world CVEs caused by CWE-204
-
This, and others, use ".." attacks and monitor error responses, so there is overlap with directory traversal.
-
Enumeration of valid usernames based on inconsistent responses
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Account number enumeration via inconsistent responses.
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User enumeration via discrepancies in error messages.
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User enumeration via discrepancies in error messages.
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Bulletin Board displays different error messages when a user exists or not, which makes it easier for remote attackers to identify valid users and conduct a brute force password guessing attack.
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Operating System, when direct remote login is disabled, displays a different message if the password is correct, which allows remote attackers to guess the password via brute force methods.
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Product allows remote attackers to determine if a port is being filtered because the response packet TTL is different than the default TTL.
Comment les attaquants l'exploitent
Parcours de l'attaquant étape par étape
- 1
The following code checks validity of the supplied username and password and notifies the user of a successful or failed login.
- 2
In the above code, there are different messages for when an incorrect username is supplied, versus when the username is correct but the password is wrong. This difference enables a potential attacker to understand the state of the login function, and could allow an attacker to discover a valid username by trying different values until the incorrect password message is returned. In essence, this makes it easier for an attacker to obtain half of the necessary authentication credentials.
- 3
While this type of information may be helpful to a user, it is also useful to a potential attacker. In the above example, the message for both failed cases should be the same, such as:
Exemple de code vulnérable
Vulnerable Perl
The following code checks validity of the supplied username and password and notifies the user of a successful or failed login.
my $username=param('username');
my $password=param('password');
if (IsValidUsername($username) == 1)
{
if (IsValidPassword($username, $password) == 1)
{
print "Login Successful";
}
else
{
print "Login Failed - incorrect password";
}
}
else
{
print "Login Failed - unknown username";
} Exemple de code sécurisé
Secure 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.
Liste de contrôle de prévention
How to prevent CWE-204
- Architecture and Design Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
- Implementation Ensure that error messages only contain minimal details that are useful to the intended audience and no one else. The messages need to strike the balance between being too cryptic (which can confuse users) or being too detailed (which may reveal more than intended). The messages should not reveal the methods that were used to determine the error. Attackers can use detailed information to refine or optimize their original attack, thereby increasing their chances of success. If errors must be captured in some detail, record them in log messages, but consider what could occur if the log messages can be viewed by attackers. Highly sensitive information such as passwords should never be saved to log files. Avoid inconsistent messaging that might accidentally tip off an attacker about internal state, such as whether a user account exists or not.
Signaux de détection
How to detect CWE-204
Exécuter des tests de sécurité applicative dynamique (DAST) contre le point de terminaison en ligne.
Surveiller les journaux runtime pour détecter des traces d'exception inhabituelles, des entrées malformées ou des tentatives de contournement d'autorisation.
Revue de code : signaler tout nouveau code qui traite les entrées de cette surface sans utiliser les helpers du framework validés.
Plexicus détecte automatiquement CWE-204 et ouvre une PR de correction en moins de 60 secondes.
Codex Remedium analyse chaque commit, identifie cette faiblesse précise et livre une pull request prête à être relue avec le correctif. Pas de tickets. Pas de transferts.
Questions fréquentes Qu'est-ce que CWE-204 ?
Quelle est la gravité de CWE-204 ?
Quels langages ou plateformes sont affectés par CWE-204 ?
Comment puis-je prévenir CWE-204 ?
Comment Plexicus détecte et corrige CWE-204 ?
Où puis-je en savoir plus sur CWE-204 ?
Frequently asked questions
Qu'est-ce que CWE-204 ?
This vulnerability occurs when an application responds differently to similar requests, unintentionally leaking details about its internal state or logic to unauthorized users.
Quelle est la gravité de CWE-204 ?
MITRE n'a pas publié de note de probabilité d'exploitation pour cette faiblesse. Traitez-la comme un impact moyen jusqu'à ce que votre modèle de menace prouve le contraire.
Quels langages ou plateformes sont affectés par CWE-204 ?
MITRE n'a pas spécifié les plateformes affectées pour ce CWE — il peut s'appliquer à la plupart des stacks applicatives.
Comment puis-je prévenir CWE-204 ?
Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to…
Comment Plexicus détecte et corrige CWE-204 ?
Le moteur SAST de Plexicus reconnaît la signature de flux de données de CWE-204 à chaque commit. Lorsqu'une correspondance est trouvée, notre agent Codex Remedium ouvre une PR de correction avec le code corrigé, les tests et un résumé d'une ligne pour le relecteur.
Où puis-je en savoir plus sur CWE-204 ?
MITRE publie la définition canonique à https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/204.html. Vous pouvez également consulter la documentation OWASP et NIST pour des conseils adjacents.
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