CWE

Information Exposure Through Externally-generated Error Message

ID: 211		Date: (C)2012-05-14   (M)2022-10-10
Type: weakness		Status: INCOMPLETE
Abstraction Type: Base

Description

The software performs an operation that triggers an external diagnostic or error message that is not directly generated by the software, such as an error generated by the programming language interpreter that the software uses. The error can contain sensitive system information.

Enabling Factors for Exploitation
PHP applications are often targeted for having this issue when the PHP interpreter generates the error outside of the application's control. However, it's not just restricted to PHP, as other languages/environments exhibit the same issue.

Applicable Platforms
Language: Often
Language: PHP
Language Class: All

Time Of Introduction

• Architecture and Design
• Implementation
• Operation

Common Consequences

Scope	Technical Impact	Notes
Confidentiality	Read application data

Detection Methods
None

Potential Mitigations

Phase	Strategy	Description	Effectiveness	Notes
System Configuration		Configure the application's environment in a way that prevents errors from being generated. For example, in PHP, disable display_errors.
Implementation Build and Compilation	Compilation or Build Hardening Environment Hardening	Debugging information should not make its way into a production release.
Implementation		Handle exceptions internally and do not display errors containing potentially sensitive information to a user. Create default error pages if necessary.
Implementation		The best way to prevent this weakness during implementation is to avoid any bugs that could trigger the external error message. This typically happens when the program encounters fatal errors, such as a divide-by-zero. You will not always be able to control the use of error pages, and you might not be using a language that handles exceptions.

Relationships
This is inherently a resultant vulnerability from a weakness within the product or an interaction error.

Related CWE	Type	View	Chain
CWE-211 ChildOf CWE-895	Category	CWE-888

Demonstrative Examples
None

Observed Examples

1. CVE-2004-1581 : chain: product does not protect against direct request of an include file, leading to resultant path disclosure when the include file does not successfully execute.
2. CVE-2004-1579 : Single "'" inserted into SQL query leads to invalid SQL query execution, triggering full path disclosure. Possibly resultant from more general SQL injection issue.
3. CVE-2005-0459 : chain: product does not protect against direct request of a library file, leading to resultant path disclosure when the file does not successfully execute.
4. CVE-2005-0443 : invalid parameter triggers a failure to find an include file, leading to infoleak in error message.
5. CVE-2005-0433 : Various invalid requests lead to information leak in verbose error messages describing the failure to instantiate a class, open a configuration file, or execute an undefined function.
6. CVE-2004-1101 : Improper handling of filename request with trailing "/" causes multiple consequences, including information leak in Visual Basic error message.

For more examples, refer to CVE relations in the bottom box.

White Box Definitions
None

Black Box Definitions
None

Taxynomy Mappings

Taxynomy	Id	Name	Fit
PLOVER		Product-External Error Message Infoleak

References:
None