Data Traffic Spam

Disclosure of Secrets in Data Traffic Spam

Overview of the Vulnerability

Disclosure of secrets occurs when the data is not properly secured, allowing sensitive data, such as secrets, API keys, or other data critical to business operation to be exposed. This application discloses data within data traffic spam which can enable an attacker to use secrets for privilege escalation within the application, or to send API requests on behalf of the user.

Business Impact

Disclosure of secrets can lead to indirect financial loss through an attacker accessing, deleting, or modifying data from within the application. This could also result in reputational damage for the business through the impact to customers’ trust. The severity of the impact to the business is dependent on the sensitivity of the data being stored in, and transmitted by the application.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Enable a HTTP interception proxy, such as Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP

2. Use a browser to navigate to: {{URL}} 1 Generate data traffic by forwarding the following request multiple times to the endpoint:

{{request}}

1. Observe the disclosure of sensitive data in the HTTP interception proxy

Proof of Concept (PoC)

The screenshot below displays the secrets disclosed:

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Recommendation(s)

It is recommended to encrypt sensitive data, including secrets, both when at rest and when in transit. All data that is processed, stored, and transmitted by the application should be classified by business need, regulatory and industry requirements, and appropriate privacy laws.

Additionally, it is best practice to not store sensitive data when it is no longer required, as data that is not retained cannot be accessed and used maliciously. All sensitive data including secrets should therefore be a part of a regularly reviewed maintenance cycle. This review cycle should include rotation of secrets.

For more information refer to Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) guide relating to this vulnerability: https://owasp.org/www-project-proactive-controls/v3/en/c8-protect-data-everywhere