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Weak Encoding for Password

Incomplete Base
Structure: Simple
Description

Obscuring a password with a trivial encoding does not protect the password.

Extended Description

Password management issues occur when a password is stored in plaintext in an application's properties or configuration file. A programmer can 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.
Common Consequences 1
Scope: Access Control

Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Detection Methods 1
Automated Static AnalysisHigh
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.)
Potential Mitigations 1
Passwords should be encrypted with keys that are at least 128 bits in length for adequate security.
Demonstrative Examples 2
The following code reads a password from a properties file and uses the password to connect to a database.

Code Example:

Bad
Java
java
This code will run successfully, but anyone with access to config.properties can read the value of password and easily determine that the value has been base 64 encoded. If a devious employee has access to this information, they can use it to break into the system.
The following code reads a password from the registry and uses the password to create a new network credential.

Code Example:

Bad
C#
c#
This code will run successfully, but anyone who has access to the registry key used to store the password can read the value of password. If a devious employee has access to this information, they can use it to break into the system.
References 3
Seven Pernicious Kingdoms: A Taxonomy of Software Security Errors
Katrina Tsipenyuk, Brian Chess, and Gary McGraw
NIST Workshop on Software Security Assurance Tools Techniques and Metrics • NIST
07-11-2005
https://samate.nist.gov/SSATTM_Content/papers/Seven%20Pernicious%20Kingdoms%20-%20Taxonomy%20of%20Sw%20Security%20Errors%20-%20Tsipenyuk%20-%20Chess%20-%20McGraw.pdf
ID: REF-6
Building Secure Software: How to Avoid Security Problems the Right Way
John Viega and Gary McGraw
Addison-Wesley
2002
ID: REF-207
24 Deadly Sins of Software Security
Michael Howard, David LeBlanc, and John Viega
McGraw-Hill
2010
ID: REF-44
Applicable Platforms
Languages:
Not Language-Specific : Undetermined
Modes of Introduction
Architecture and Design
Related Attack Patterns
Related Weaknesses
ChildOf: Insufficiently Protected Credentials (CWE-522)
Taxonomy Mapping
  • 7 Pernicious Kingdoms
  • OWASP Top Ten 2004
Notes
Other The "crypt" family of functions uses weak cryptographic algorithms and should be avoided. It may be present in some projects for compatibility.