CWE-200: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
Also known as: Information Disclosure, Information Leak
The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
Last updated
Overview
There are many different kinds of mistakes that introduce information exposures. The severity of the error can range widely, depending on the context in which the product operates, the type of sensitive information that is revealed, and the benefits it may provide to an attacker. Some kinds of sensitive information include: private, personal information, such as personal messages, financial data, health records, geographic location, or contact details system status and environment, such as the operating system and installed packages business secrets and intellectual property network status and configuration the product's own code or internal state metadata, e.g. logging of connections or message headers indirect information, such as a discrepancy between two internal operations that can be observed by an outsider Information might be sensitive to different parties, each of which may have their own expectations for whether the information should be protected. These parties include: the product's own users people or organizations whose information is created or used by the product, even if they are not direct product users the product's administrators, including the admins of the system(s) and/or networks on which the product operates the developer Information exposures can occur in different ways: the code explicitly inserts sensitive information into resources or messages that are intentionally made accessible to unauthorized actors, but should not contain the information - i.e., the information should have been "scrubbed" or "sanitized" a different weakness or mistake indirectly inserts the sensitive information into resources, such as a web script error revealing the full system path of the program. the code manages resources that intentionally contain sensitive information, but the resources are unintentionally made accessible to unauthorized actors. In this case, the information exposure is resultant - i.e., a different weakness enabled the access to the information in the first place. It is common practice to describe any loss of confidentiality as an "information exposure," but this can lead to overuse of CWE-200 in CWE mapping. From the CWE perspective, loss of confidentiality is a technical impact that can arise from dozens of different weaknesses, such as insecure file permissions or out-of-bounds read. CWE-200 and its lower-level descendants are intended to cover the mistakes that occur in behaviors that explicitly manage, store, transfer, or cleanse sensitive information.
Real-world CVEs
3,713 recorded CVEs are caused by CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor), including 16 in CISA's KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities) catalog. KEVs are shown first. 687 new CWE-200 CVEs have been recorded so far in 2026 (765 in 2025).
- CVE-2022-20821CISA KEV
Cisco IOS XR Software Health Check Open Port Vulnerability
High · CVSS 8.8 · EPSS 96th2022-05-26 - CVE-2024-24919CISA KEV
Information disclosure
High · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 100th2024-05-28 - CVE-2023-49103CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 100th2023-11-21
- CVE-2023-28432CISA KEV
Minio Information Disclosure in Cluster Deployment
High · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 100th2023-03-22 - CVE-2020-3259CISA KEV
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Information Disclosure Vulnerability
High · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 99th2020-05-06 - CVE-2016-6415CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 100th2016-09-19
- CVE-2015-5317CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 8.7 · EPSS 97th2015-11-25
- CVE-2008-0655CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 8.6 · EPSS 98th2008-02-07
- CVE-2015-0310CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 8.5 · EPSS 96th2015-01-23
- CVE-2018-5430CISA KEV
TIBCO JasperReports Server Information Disclosure Vulnerability
High · CVSS 8.3 · EPSS 99th2018-04-17 - CVE-2021-41277CISA KEV
GeoJSON URL validation can expose server files and environment variables to unauthorized users
High · CVSS 7.7 · EPSS 100th2021-11-17 - CVE-2026-20133CISA KEVHigh · CVSS 7.1 · EPSS 95th2026-02-25
Showing 12 of 3,713 recorded CWE-200 CVEs. Track new ones as they are published and get AI-written analysis and fixes.
Monitor CWE-200 vulnerabilitiesCommon consequences
What can happen when CWE-200 is exploited.
Read Application Data
Affects: Confidentiality
How it happens
When it is introduced
Typically introduced during these phases of the software lifecycle.
Applies to
Technologies
How to prevent it
Practical mitigations for CWE-200, grouped by where in the lifecycle they apply.
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.
How to detect it
Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Dynamic Analysis with Automated Results Interpretation
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: High
Dynamic Analysis with Manual Results Interpretation
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: SOAR Partial
Manual Static Analysis - Source Code
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: High
Automated Static Analysis - Source Code
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: High
Architecture or Design Review
According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
Effectiveness: High
Code examples
Illustrative examples from MITRE showing how the weakness appears in code.
The following code checks validity of the supplied username and password and notifies the user of a successful or failed login.
Vulnerable example
my $username=param('username');Resulting query
"Login Failed - incorrect username or password"This code tries to open a database connection, and prints any exceptions that occur.
Vulnerable example
//print exception message that includes exception message and configuration file location
try {If an exception occurs, the printed message exposes the location of the configuration file the script is using. An attacker can use this information to target the configuration file (perhaps exploiting a Path Traversal weakness). If the file can be read, the attacker could gain credentials for accessing the database. The attacker may also be able to replace the file with a malicious one, causing the application to use an arbitrary database.
In the example below, the method getUserBankAccount retrieves a bank account object from a database using the supplied username and account number to query the database. If an SQLException is raised when querying the database, an error message is created and output to a log file.
Vulnerable example
public BankAccount getUserBankAccount(String username, String accountNumber) {The error message that is created includes information about the database query that may contain sensitive information about the database or query logic. In this case, the error message will expose the table name and column names used in the database. This data could be used to simplify other attacks, such as SQL injection (CWE-89) to directly access the database.
This code stores location information about the current user:
Vulnerable example
...
locationClient = new LocationClient(this, this, this);When the application encounters an exception it will write the user object to the log. Because the user object contains location information, the user's location is also written to the log.
The following is an actual MySQL error statement:
Resulting query
Warning: mysql_pconnect(): Access denied for user: 'root@localhost' (Using password: N1nj4) in /usr/local/www/wi-data/includes/database.inc on line 4The error clearly exposes the database credentials.
This code displays some information on a web page.
Vulnerable example
Social Security Number: <%= ssn %></br>Credit Card Number: <%= ccn %>The code displays a user's credit card and social security numbers, even though they aren't absolutely necessary.
The following program changes its behavior based on a debug flag.
Vulnerable example
<% if (Boolean.getBoolean("debugEnabled")) {The code writes sensitive debug information to the client browser if the "debugEnabled" flag is set to true .
This code uses location to determine the user's current US State location.
Vulnerable example
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"/>Vulnerable example
locationClient = new LocationClient(this, this, this);Illustrative examples
Real CVEs that MITRE cites as examples of this weakness.
- CVE-2022-31162 — Rust library leaks Oauth client details in application debug logs
- CVE-2021-25476 — Digital Rights Management (DRM) capability for mobile platform leaks pointer information, simplifying ASLR bypass
- CVE-2001-1483 — Enumeration of valid usernames based on inconsistent responses
- CVE-2001-1528 — Account number enumeration via inconsistent responses.
- CVE-2004-2150 — User enumeration via discrepancies in error messages.
- CVE-2005-1205 — Telnet protocol allows servers to obtain sensitive environment information from clients.
- CVE-2002-1725 — Script calls phpinfo(), revealing system configuration to web user
- CVE-2002-0515 — Product sets a different TTL when a port is being filtered than when it is not being filtered, which allows remote attackers to identify filtered ports by comparing TTLs.
- CVE-2004-0778 — Version control system allows remote attackers to determine the existence of arbitrary files and directories via the -X command for an alternate history file, which causes different error messages to be returned.
- CVE-2000-1117 — Virtual machine allows malicious web site operators to determine the existence of files on the client by measuring delays in the execution of the getSystemResource method.
- CVE-2003-0190 — Product immediately sends an error message when a user does not exist, which allows remote attackers to determine valid usernames via a timing attack.
- CVE-2008-2049 — POP3 server reveals a password in an error message after multiple APOP commands are sent. Might be resultant from another weakness.
- CVE-2007-5172 — Program reveals password in error message if attacker can trigger certain database errors.
- CVE-2008-4638 — Composite: application running with high privileges (CWE-250) allows user to specify a restricted file to process, which generates a parsing error that leaks the contents of the file (CWE-209).
- CVE-2007-1409 — Direct request to library file in web application triggers pathname leak in error message.
- CVE-2005-0603 — Malformed regexp syntax leads to information exposure in error message.
- CVE-2004-2268 — Password exposed in debug information.
- CVE-2003-1078 — FTP client with debug option enabled shows password to the screen.
- CVE-2022-0708 — Collaboration platform does not clear team emails in a response, allowing leak of email addresses
Terminology & mappings
Alternate terms
- Information Disclosure
- This term is frequently used in vulnerability advisories to describe a consequence or technical impact, for any vulnerability that has a loss of confidentiality. Often, CWE-200 can be misused to represent the loss of confidentiality, even when the mistake - i.e., the weakness - is not directly related to the mishandling of the information itself, such as an out-of-bounds read that accesses sensitive memory contents; here, the out-of-bounds read is the primary weakness, not the disclosure of the memory. In addition, this phrase is also used frequently in policies and legal documents, but it does not refer to any disclosure of security-relevant information.
- Information Leak
- This is a frequently used term, however the "leak" term has multiple uses within security. In some cases it deals with the accidental exposure of information from a different weakness, but in other cases (such as "memory leak"), this deals with improper tracking of resources, which can lead to exhaustion. As a result, CWE is actively avoiding usage of the "leak" term.
Mapped taxonomies
- PLOVER: Information Leak (information disclosure)
- OWASP Top Ten 2007: Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling (A6) — CWE More Specific fit
- WASC: Information Leakage (13)
Attack patterns
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit this weakness.
- CAPEC-116: Excavation
- CAPEC-13: Subverting Environment Variable Values
- CAPEC-169: Footprinting
- CAPEC-22: Exploiting Trust in Client
- CAPEC-224: Fingerprinting
- CAPEC-285: ICMP Echo Request Ping
- CAPEC-287: TCP SYN Scan
- CAPEC-290: Enumerate Mail Exchange (MX) Records
- CAPEC-291: DNS Zone Transfers
- CAPEC-292: Host Discovery
- CAPEC-293: Traceroute Route Enumeration
- CAPEC-294: ICMP Address Mask Request
- CAPEC-295: Timestamp Request
- CAPEC-296: ICMP Information Request
- CAPEC-297: TCP ACK Ping
- CAPEC-298: UDP Ping
- CAPEC-299: TCP SYN Ping
- CAPEC-300: Port Scanning
- CAPEC-301: TCP Connect Scan
- CAPEC-302: TCP FIN Scan
- CAPEC-303: TCP Xmas Scan
- CAPEC-304: TCP Null Scan
- CAPEC-305: TCP ACK Scan
- CAPEC-306: TCP Window Scan
- CAPEC-307: TCP RPC Scan
- CAPEC-308: UDP Scan
- CAPEC-309: Network Topology Mapping
- CAPEC-310: Scanning for Vulnerable Software
- CAPEC-312: Active OS Fingerprinting
- CAPEC-313: Passive OS Fingerprinting
- CAPEC-317: IP ID Sequencing Probe
- CAPEC-318: IP 'ID' Echoed Byte-Order Probe
- CAPEC-319: IP (DF) 'Don't Fragment Bit' Echoing Probe
- CAPEC-320: TCP Timestamp Probe
- CAPEC-321: TCP Sequence Number Probe
- CAPEC-322: TCP (ISN) Greatest Common Divisor Probe
- CAPEC-323: TCP (ISN) Counter Rate Probe
- CAPEC-324: TCP (ISN) Sequence Predictability Probe
- CAPEC-325: TCP Congestion Control Flag (ECN) Probe
- CAPEC-326: TCP Initial Window Size Probe
- CAPEC-327: TCP Options Probe
- CAPEC-328: TCP 'RST' Flag Checksum Probe
- CAPEC-329: ICMP Error Message Quoting Probe
- CAPEC-330: ICMP Error Message Echoing Integrity Probe
- CAPEC-472: Browser Fingerprinting
- CAPEC-497: File Discovery
- CAPEC-508: Shoulder Surfing
- CAPEC-573: Process Footprinting
- CAPEC-574: Services Footprinting
- CAPEC-575: Account Footprinting
- CAPEC-576: Group Permission Footprinting
- CAPEC-577: Owner Footprinting
- CAPEC-59: Session Credential Falsification through Prediction
- CAPEC-60: Reusing Session IDs (aka Session Replay)
- CAPEC-616: Establish Rogue Location
- CAPEC-643: Identify Shared Files/Directories on System
- CAPEC-646: Peripheral Footprinting
- CAPEC-651: Eavesdropping
- CAPEC-79: Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about CWE-200.
- What is CWE-200?
- The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.
- What CVEs are caused by CWE-200?
- 3,713 recorded CVEs are attributed to CWE-200, including CVE-2022-20821, CVE-2024-24919, CVE-2023-49103. 16 are listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.
- Is CWE-200 part of the OWASP Top 10?
- CWE-200 maps to OWASP Top Ten 2007: Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling (A6) in the OWASP security taxonomy.
- How do you prevent CWE-200?
- 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.
- How is CWE-200 detected?
- Automated Static Analysis - Binary or Bytecode: According to SOAR [REF-1479], the following detection techniques may be useful:
- What are the consequences of CWE-200?
- Exploiting CWE-200 can lead to: Read Application Data.
- Is CWE-200 actively exploited?
- Yes. 16 CWE-200 vulnerabilities are in CISA's KEV catalog of actively exploited flaws, out of 3,713 recorded CVEs.
References
- MITRE CWE definition (CWE-200) (opens in a new tab)
- CWE-200 vulnerabilities on NVD (opens in a new tab)
- Learn: What is a CWE?
Weakness data is sourced from the MITRE CWE catalog (v4.20). CVE associations are aggregated and kept current by RadicalNotion.AI.
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