CWE-1295

Debug Messages Revealing Unnecessary Information
AI Translation Available

The product fails to adequately prevent the revealing of unnecessary and potentially sensitive system information within debugging messages.

Status
incomplete
Abstraction
base

Debug messages are messages that help troubleshoot an issue by revealing the internal state of the system. For example, debug data in design can be exposed through internal memory array dumps or boot logs through interfaces like UART via TAP commands, scan chain, etc. Thus, the more information contained in a debug message, the easier it is to debug. However, there is also the risk of revealing information that could help an attacker either decipher a vulnerability, and/or gain a better understanding of the system. Thus, this extra information could lower the 'security by obscurity' factor. While 'security by obscurity' alone is insufficient, it can help as a part of 'Defense-in-depth'.

Common Consequences

confidentiality integrity availability access control accountability authentication authorization non-repudiation
Impacts
read memory bypass protection mechanism gain privileges or assume identity varies by context

Detection Methods

automated static analysis

Potential Mitigations

Phases:
implementation
Descriptions:
• Ensure that a debug message does not reveal any unnecessary information during the debug process for the intended response.