The product stores sensitive information in cleartext in a cookie.
View on MITREAttackers can use widely-available tools to view the cookie and read the sensitive information. Even if the information is encoded in a way that is not human-readable, certain techniques could determine which encoding is being used, then decode the information.
No mitigation information available for this CWE.
No detection method information available for this CWE.
The following code excerpt stores a plaintext user account ID in a browser cookie.
Because the account ID is in plaintext, the user's account information is exposed if their computer is compromised by an attacker.
No relationship information available for this CWE.
CWE-315: Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in a Cookie is a Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) entry maintained by MITRE. The product stores sensitive information in cleartext in a cookie. Attackers can use widely-available tools to view the cookie and read the sensitive information. Even if the information is encoded in a way that is not human-readable, certain techniques could determine which encoding is being used, then decode the information.
If exploited, CWE-315 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information in a Cookie) it can compromise Confidentiality, leading to outcomes such as Read Application Data.
CWE-315 commonly affects Not Language-Specific. Note that weaknesses are often language-agnostic patterns, so secure coding practices apply broadly.
MITRE documents real CVEs mapped to CWE-315, including CVE-2002-1800, CVE-2001-1537, CVE-2001-1536 and CVE-2005-2160. You can look up the full details of each CVE, including CVSS scores and remediation guidance, on our CVE Lookup tool.
A CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) like CWE-315 describes a category of software weakness — the underlying flaw type. A CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) identifies a specific, real-world vulnerability in a particular product. In short, a CWE is the kind of mistake, and a CVE is an instance of that mistake being found in software.