CWE-256

Plaintext Storage of a Password

High

Description

The product stores a password in plaintext within resources such as memory or files.

Potential Impact

How to Fix

Architecture and Design

Avoid storing passwords in easily accessible locations.

Architecture and Design

Consider storing cryptographic hashes of passwords as an alternative to storing in plaintext.

General

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.

Detection Methods

Related Weaknesses

References

View on MITRE CWE Database →

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