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CWE-203

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CWE-203

Observable Discrepancy

Base
Incomplete

Description

The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.

Common Consequences

Scope

Confidentiality
Access Control

Impact

Read Application Data, Bypass Protection Mechanism

Scope

Confidentiality

Impact

Read Application Data

Potential Mitigations

Architecture and Design

Compartmentalize the system to have "safe" areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

Implementation

Ensure that error messages only contain minimal details that are useful to the intended audience and no one else. The messages need to strike the balance between being too cryptic (which can confuse users) or being too detailed (which may reveal more than intended). The messages should not reveal the methods that were used to determine the error. Attackers can use detailed information to refine or optimize their original attack, thereby increasing their chances of success. If errors must be captured in some detail, record them in log messages, but consider what could occur if the log messages can be viewed by attackers. Highly sensitive information such as passwords should never be saved to log files. Avoid inconsistent messaging that might accidentally tip off an attacker about internal state, such as whether a user account exists or not.

CVE-2020-8695

Observable discrepancy in the RAPL interface for some Intel processors allows information disclosure.

CVE-2019-14353

Crypto hardware wallet's power consumption relates to total number of pixels illuminated, creating a side channel in the USB connection that allows attackers to determine secrets displayed such as PIN numbers and passwords

CVE-2019-10071

Java-oriented framework compares HMAC signatures using String.equals() instead of a constant-time algorithm, causing timing discrepancies

CVE-2002-2094

This, and others, use ".." attacks and monitor error responses, so there is overlap with directory traversal.

CVE-2001-1483

Enumeration of valid usernames based on inconsistent responses

CVE-2001-1528

Account number enumeration via inconsistent responses.

CVE-2004-2150

User enumeration via discrepancies in error messages.

CVE-2005-1650

User enumeration via discrepancies in error messages.

CVE-2004-0294

Bulletin Board displays different error messages when a user exists or not, which makes it easier for remote attackers to identify valid users and conduct a brute force password guessing attack.

CVE-2004-0243

Operating System, when direct remote login is disabled, displays a different message if the password is correct, which allows remote attackers to guess the password via brute force methods.

+13 more examples

Applicable Platforms

Not Language-Specific

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