CWE-261: Weak Encoding for Password

BaseIncomplete

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

View on MITRE
Back to CWE Lookup

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.

Technical Details

Structure
Simple

Applicable To

Languages
Not Language-Specific
Platforms

Learn More

Find Related CVEs

Search for vulnerabilities that exploit CWE-261

CVE vs CWE: What's the Difference?

Understanding vulnerabilities vs weaknesses

Understanding CVSS Scoring

How vulnerability severity is measured

View Full MITRE Entry

Complete technical details and references