Vulnerabilities related to information disclosure arise when private data is unintentionally made available to unapproved users. These weaknesses may result from a number of things, such as configuration errors, software faults, or insufficient access controls.
A methodical strategy to testing systems and applications for inadvertent exposure of sensitive data is necessary to identify information disclosure vulnerabilities.

The following are essential actions to find these vulnerabilities:

1. Gaining an understanding of the application and its data:

–Classification of Data Recognize the many kinds of data that the program manages, such as financial, health, and personally identifiable information (PII).

• As a example, an e-commerce program may manage different kinds of data, including payment information (financial data), user accounts (PII), and product details. Knowing this makes it easier to rank the data that needs to be protected based on its sensitivity.

– Data Flow Analysis: Check how the input, processing, storage, and output data flows for the application.

• As an example, tracing the data flow in an application may show that user input is routed to a database, where it is processed before being shown on a webpage. This flow could have a bug that exposes sensitive data in an unauthorized way.

2. Examining the server configuration and application configuration:

–Examine web servers, application servers, and databases for configuration errors that may expose private information (e.g., default credentials, directory listings).

• As an example, a web server that was improperly set up to allow directory listing may reveal files and folders that hold private data (such as backups or configuration files). You can verify this by visiting websites such as http://example.com/uploads/.

– Error Handling: Examine the way the program manages errors. Detailed error messages (such as stack traces and database queries) may unintentionally disclose critical information.

• As an example, if a program returns an error such as SQL Error: Table ‘users’ doesn’t exist, it may disclose information about the database structure. Instead, generic error messages should be displayed to the user.

3. Performing Security Testing:

– Static Analysis: To find hardcoded credentials, sensitive data exposed in code, or unsafe data handling procedures, use static code analysis tools.

• As an example, hardcoded credentials like admin and admin123—which belong in production code—can be found in the source code by using a static code analysis tool like SonarQube.

– Dynamic Analysis: Engage in dynamic testing, such as penetration testing, to engage with the program and watch how it responds. During user interactions, look for instances where data is leaked.

Example: In the course of a penetration test, a tester may find that providing erroneous data in a search box results in a thorough error message that discloses details about the database schema.

4. Examining Common Vulnerabilities:

– Exposure to Sensitive Data: Verify whether sensitive data is being transferred over unencrypted channels (such as HTTP instead of HTTPS).

As an example, consider an application that allows hackers to intercept sensitive user data (such passwords) by sending it over HTTP rather than HTTPS. Using programs like Wireshark to monitor traffic is one method of testing.

– Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR): Modify URLs or parameters to check for illegal data access.

• As examples, if a user may access their account information by using a URL such as http://example.com/account?id=123, changing the ID parameter to id=124 could, in the event that appropriate authorization checks are not in place, grant access to another user’s account.

– Incorrectly configured APIs: Check API endpoints for exposed unprotected data, including an abundance of data returned in response.

• An example of how sensitive information could be exposed is an unauthenticated API endpoint that returns user data. For example, if http://api.example.com/users is not properly secured, a GET request to that address could return a list of all users.

5. Examining Logs and Reactions:

– Log Analysis: Check application logs for private data that might have been unintentionally recorded (e.g., user credentials, PII).

• For example, sensitive material is being logged in application logs and should be redacted or avoided completely if entries like User login: admin, password: admin123 are found there.

– Response Analysis: Examine HTTP responses, including headers, cookies, and body content, for any unintentional data exposure.

• As an example, a response header may include sensitive data, such as X-Powered-By: PHP/7.4.3, which could provide attackers with knowledge about the technological stack being used and possible security holes.

6. Manual Testing:

– Data Enumeration: Using a methodical approach, query the application for various resources or user accounts in order to manually check for vulnerabilities related to data enumeration.

• As examples, a tester may attempt to see various user profiles by increasing the user IDs in the URL (e.g., http://example.com/profile?id=1, id=2, etc.) in order to determine whether any unapproved data may be obtained.

– Session Management: Evaluate the application’s handling of sessions and determine whether any session identifiers or tokens expose sensitive data.

• For instance, an attacker may be able to guess the session token of another user and take control of their session if session tokens are predictable (e.g., session=abc123).

7. Making Use of Automated Tools:

Make use of automated vulnerability scanners that can identify typical problems with information disclosure, like:
– Burp Suite
– Nessus
– OWASP ZAP

• As an example, OWASP ZAP is a tool that can be set up to automatically scan a web site and find common vulnerabilities, such as information disclosure problems resulting from incorrectly configured security settings.

8. Examining Third-Party Components:

Look for flaws in third-party frameworks or libraries that could expose confidential information.

Using an outdated version of jQuery, for instance, is one example of a library that has known vulnerabilities that could expose sensitive data to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. It is essential to assess and update dependencies on a regular basis.

9. Threat Modeling:

Identify possible attack routes that can result in information disclosure by holding threat modeling sessions.

• As an example, a team may discover through threat modeling that an attacker may be able to access private information by taking advantage of an admin panel that has been neglected and left online. This aids in setting security measures in order of priority.

10. Reporting Findings:

Clearly document any vulnerabilities that have been found and offer suggestions for fixing them.

• As an example, a penetration tester records vulnerabilities in a report that includes the following information:
• Discoveries: “Error messages expose sensitive data.”
• Proof: Screenshots or logs that demonstrate the problem.
• Suggestions: “Implement generic error messages and secure data transmission using HTTPS.”

In summary

Vulnerabilities relating to information disclosure can have detrimental effects, such as exposing private data and granting unauthorized access to systems and data. To stop attacks and safeguard private data, it is crucial to find and fix these vulnerabilities. Organizations can lessen the risk of vulnerabilities that lead to information leakage by employing encryption, secure coding practices, error handling techniques, and access controls.

Afreen Sayyad

Cyber Hustler || Cyber Security Analyst || Certified Penetration Tester || CCIO CPEW

Skilled and motivated penetration tester with a strong foundation in cybersecurity fundamentals and a passion for learning and growing.