CWE-379

Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Insecure Permissions
AI Translation Available

The product creates a temporary file in a directory whose permissions allow unintended actors to determine the file's existence or otherwise access that file.

Status
incomplete
Abstraction
base
Likelihood
low

On some operating systems, the fact that the temporary file exists may be apparent to any user with sufficient privileges to access that directory. Since the file is visible, the application that is using the temporary file could be known. If one has access to list the processes on the system, the attacker has gained information about what the user is doing at that time. By correlating this with the applications the user is running, an attacker could potentially discover what a user's actions are. From this, higher levels of security could be breached.

Common Consequences

confidentiality
Impacts
read application data

Detection Methods

automated static analysis

Potential Mitigations

Phases:
requirements implementation
Descriptions:
• Many contemporary languages have functions which properly handle this condition. Older C temp file functions are especially susceptible.
• Avoid using vulnerable temp file functions.
• Try to store sensitive tempfiles in a directory which is not world readable -- i.e., per-user directories.