Password Management Hardcoded Password

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Description

Hardcoded passwords may compromise system security in a way that cannot be easily remedied.

It is never a good idea to hardcode a password. Not only does hardcoding a password allow all of the project’s developers to view the password, it also makes fixing the problem extremely difficult. Once the code is in production, the password cannot be changed without patching the software. If the account protected by the password is compromised, the owners of the system will be forced to choose between security and availability.

Risk Factors

TBD

Examples

The following code uses a hardcoded password to connect to a database:

    ...
    DriverManager.getConnection(url, "scott", "tiger");
    ...

This code will run successfully, but anyone who has access to it will have access to the password. Once the program has shipped, there is no going back from the database user “scott” with a password of “tiger” unless the program is patched. A devious employee with access to this information can use it to break into the system. Even worse, if attackers have access to the bytecode for application, they can use the javap -c command to access the disassembled code, which will contain the values of the passwords used. The result of this operation might look something like the following for the example above:

    javap -c ConnMngr.class

    22: ldc   #36; //String jdbc:mysql://ixne.com/rxsql
    24: ldc   #38; //String scott
    26: ldc   #17; //String tiger

References

TBD

[[Category:FIXME add links

In addition, one should classify vulnerability based on the following subcategories: Ex:[[Category:Error_Handling_Vulnerability|Category:Error Handling Vulnerability]]

Availability Vulnerability

Authorization Vulnerability

Authentication Vulnerability

Concurrency Vulnerability

Configuration Vulnerability

Cryptographic Vulnerability

Encoding Vulnerability

Error Handling Vulnerability

Input Validation Vulnerability

Logging and Auditing Vulnerability

Session Management Vulnerability]]

NOTOC

Category:OWASP ASDR Project Category:Sensitive Data Protection Vulnerability Category:Password Management Vulnerability Category:Java Category:Code Snippet Category:Vulnerability

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