CWE - CWE-526: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable (4.18)

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CWE Glossary Definition

CWE-526: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in an Environment Variable

Weakness ID: 526

Vulnerability Mapping: ALLOWED This CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities
Abstraction: Variant Variant - a weakness that is linked to a certain type of product, typically involving a specific language or technology. More specific than a Base weakness. Variant level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 3 to 5 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.

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Description

The product uses an environment variable to store unencrypted sensitive information.

Extended Description

Information stored in an environment variable can be accessible by other processes with the execution context, including child processes that dependencies are executed in, or serverless functions in cloud environments. An environment variable's contents can also be inserted into messages, headers, log files, or other outputs. Often these other dependencies have no need to use the environment variable in question. A weakness that discloses environment variables could expose this information.

Common Consequences

Section HelpThis table specifies different individual consequences associated with the weakness. The Scope identifies the application security area that is violated, while the Impact describes the negative technical impact that arises if an adversary succeeds in exploiting this weakness. The Likelihood provides information about how likely the specific consequence is expected to be seen relative to the other consequences in the list. For example, there may be high likelihood that a weakness will be exploited to achieve a certain impact, but a low likelihood that it will be exploited to achieve a different impact.

Impact	Details
Read Application Data	Scope: Confidentiality

Potential Mitigations

Phase(s)	Mitigation
Architecture and Design	Encrypt information stored in the environment variable to protect it from being exposed to an unauthorized user. If encryption is not feasible or is considered too expensive for the business use of the application, then consider using a properly protected configuration file instead of an environment variable. It should be understood that unencrypted information in a config file is also not guaranteed to be protected, but it is still a better choice, because it reduces attack surface related to weaknesses such as CWE-214. In some settings, vaults might be a feasible option for safer data transfer. Users should be notified of the business choice made to not protect the sensitive information through encryption.
Implementation	If the environment variable is not necessary for the desired behavior, then remove it entirely, or clear it to an empty value.

Phase(s)

Mitigation

Architecture and Design

Encrypt information stored in the environment variable to protect it from being exposed to an unauthorized user. If encryption is not feasible or is considered too expensive for the business use of the application, then consider using a properly protected configuration file instead of an environment variable. It should be understood that unencrypted information in a config file is also not guaranteed to be protected, but it is still a better choice, because it reduces attack surface related to weaknesses such as CWE-214. In some settings, vaults might be a feasible option for safer data transfer. Users should be notified of the business choice made to not protect the sensitive information through encryption.

Implementation

If the environment variable is not necessary for the desired behavior, then remove it entirely, or clear it to an empty value.

Relationships

Section Help This table shows the weaknesses and high level categories that are related to this weakness. These relationships are defined as ChildOf, ParentOf, MemberOf and give insight to similar items that may exist at higher and lower levels of abstraction. In addition, relationships such as PeerOf and CanAlsoBe are defined to show similar weaknesses that the user may want to explore.

Relevant to the view "Research Concepts" (View-1000)

Nature	Type	ID	Name
ChildOf	Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	312	Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information
PeerOf	Base Base - a weakness that is still mostly independent of a resource or technology, but with sufficient details to provide specific methods for detection and prevention. Base level weaknesses typically describe issues in terms of 2 or 3 of the following dimensions: behavior, property, technology, language, and resource.	214	Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information

Modes Of Introduction

Section HelpThe different Modes of Introduction provide information about how and when this weakness may be introduced. The Phase identifies a point in the life cycle at which introduction may occur, while the Note provides a typical scenario related to introduction during the given phase.

Phase	Note
Architecture and Design
Implementation
Operation

Selected Observed Examples

Note: this is a curated list of examples for users to understand the variety of ways in which this weakness can be introduced. It is not a complete list of all CVEs that are related to this CWE entry.

Reference	Description
CVE-2022-43691	CMS shows sensitive server-side information from environment variables when run in Debug mode.
CVE-2022-27195	Plugin for an automation server inserts environment variable contents into build XML files.
CVE-2022-25264	CI/CD tool logs environment variables related to passwords add Contribution to content history.

Detection Methods

Method	Details
Automated Static Analysis	Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.) Effectiveness: High

Method

Details

Automated Static Analysis

Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)

Effectiveness: High

Memberships

Section HelpThis MemberOf Relationships table shows additional CWE Categories and Views that reference this weakness as a member. This information is often useful in understanding where a weakness fits within the context of external information sources.

Nature	Type	ID	Name
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	731	OWASP Top Ten 2004 Category A10 - Insecure Configuration Management
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	963	SFP Secondary Cluster: Exposed Data
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1349	OWASP Top Ten 2021 Category A05:2021 - Security Misconfiguration
MemberOf	CategoryCategory - a CWE entry that contains a set of other entries that share a common characteristic.	1417	Comprehensive Categorization: Sensitive Information Exposure

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Usage ALLOWED

(this CWE ID may be used to map to real-world vulnerabilities)

Reason Acceptable-Use

Rationale

This CWE entry is at the Variant level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.

Comments

Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

Taxonomy Mappings

Mapped Taxonomy Name	Node ID	Fit	Mapped Node Name
Software Fault Patterns	SFP23	Exposed Data

References

[REF-1318] David Fiser, Alfredo Oliveira. "Analyzing the Hidden Danger of Environment Variables for Keeping Secrets". 2022年08月17日.
<https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/h/analyzing-hidden-danger-of-environment-variables-for-keeping-secrets.html>. (URL validated: 2023年01月26日)

[REF-1319] Nicolas Harraudeau. "Using environment variables is security-sensitive". 2021年04月28日.
<https://sonarsource.atlassian.net/browse/RSPEC-5304>. (URL validated: 2023年01月26日)

Content History

Submissions
Submission Date	Submitter	Organization
2006年07月19日 (CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日)	CWE Community
2006年07月19日 (CWE Draft 3, 2006年07月19日)	Submitted by members of the CWE community to extend early CWE versions
Contributions
Contribution Date	Contributor	Organization
2023年01月11日	Drew Buttner	MITRE
2023年01月11日	Suggested improvements to name, description, relationships, and mitigations
Modifications
Modification Date	Modifier	Organization
2023年06月29日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年06月29日	updated Mapping_Notes
2023年04月27日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年04月27日	updated Detection_Factors, Relationships
2023年01月31日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2023年01月31日	updated Description, Name, Observed_Examples, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships
2021年10月28日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2021年10月28日	updated Relationships
2020年02月24日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2020年02月24日	updated Name, Relationships
2014年07月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2014年07月30日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2012年10月30日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年10月30日	updated Potential_Mitigations
2012年05月11日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2012年05月11日	updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011年06月01日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011年06月01日	updated Common_Consequences, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2011年03月29日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2011年03月29日	updated Name
2009年03月10日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2009年03月10日	updated Relationships
2008年09月08日	CWE Content Team	MITRE
2008年09月08日	updated Relationships
2008年07月01日	Eric Dalci	Cigital
2008年07月01日	updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
Previous Entry Names
Change Date	Previous Entry Name
2011年03月29日	Information Leak Through Environmental Variables
2020年02月24日	Information Exposure Through Environmental Variables
2023年01月31日	Exposure of Sensitive Information Through Environmental Variables

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Page Last Updated: September 09, 2025

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