CWE-256
Plaintext Storage of a Password
AI Translation Available
The product stores a password in plaintext within resources such as memory or files.
Status
incomplete
Abstraction
base
Likelihood
high
Affected Platforms
ICS/OT
Technical Details
AI Translation
Common Consequences
access control
Impacts
gain privileges or assume identity
Detection Methods
automated static analysis
Potential Mitigations
Phases:
architecture and design
Descriptions:
•
Consider storing cryptographic hashes of passwords as an alternative to storing in plaintext.
•
Avoid storing passwords in easily accessible locations.
•
A programmer might attempt to remedy the password management problem by obscuring the password with an encoding function, such as base 64 encoding, but this effort does not adequately protect the password because the encoding can be detected and decoded easily.