CWE-260: Password in Configuration File
Description
The product stores a password in a configuration file that might be accessible to actors who do not know the password.
This can result in compromise of the system for which the password is used. An attacker could gain access to this file and learn the stored password or worse yet, change the password to one of their choosing.
- Abstraction
- BaseA weakness specific enough to point to detection and prevention methods.
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Status
- Incomplete
Common consequences
- Access Control
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Potential mitigations
- Architecture and Design
Avoid storing passwords in easily accessible locations.
- Architecture and Design
Consider storing cryptographic hashes of passwords as an alternative to storing in plaintext.
Related weaknesses
CAPEC attack patterns that exploit it
CWE 4.20 links no CAPEC attack pattern to this weakness.