CWE-532

Base Abstraction Level
Pillar — Highest-level weakness category
Class — Abstract, language-independent
Base — Specific enough to detect
Variant — Tied to specific technology
Compound — Requires multiple weaknesses Incomplete MITRE CWE Status
Stable — Fully reviewed and complete
Draft — Under development, may change
Incomplete — Partially defined by MITRE
Deprecated — No longer recommended
Obsolete — Replaced by another CWE Exploit: Medium
Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File

Description

The product writes sensitive information to a log file.

Top Monitored CVEs

CVE-2025-9985
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CVE-2025-24984
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Consequences

Confidentiality — Read Application Data

Logging sensitive user data, full path names, or system information often provides attackers with an additional, less-protected path to acquiring the information.

Mitigations

Phase: Architecture and Design, Implementation

Consider seriously the sensitivity of the information written into log files. Do not write secrets into the log files.

Phase: Distribution

Remove debug log files before deploying the application into production.

Phase: Operation

Protect log files against unauthorized read/write.

Phase: Implementation

Adjust configurations appropriately when software is transitioned from a debug state to production.

Detection

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.)