CWE-200 Information Exposure

Description

Information Exposure

Reference: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/200.html

OWASP Category: A01:2021 – Broken Access Control

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Vulnerable Pattern

❌ Example 1: Vulnerable Pattern

// VULNERABLE: Stack trace exposed
@ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
public ResponseEntity<?> handleException(Exception e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
    return ResponseEntity.status(500).body(e.getMessage());
}

Why it's vulnerable: This pattern is vulnerable to Information Exposure

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Deterministic Fix

✅ Secure Implementation: Secure Implementation

// SECURE: Log details internally, return generic message
@ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
public ResponseEntity<?> handleException(Exception e) {
    String errorId = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
    log.error("Error ID {}: {}", errorId, e.getMessage(), e);
    return ResponseEntity.status(500)
        .body(Map.of("error", "Internal error", "errorId", errorId));
}

Why it's secure: Implements proper protection against Information Exposure

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Detection Pattern

Look for these patterns in your codebase:

# Find exception exposure
grep -rn "printStackTrace\\|getMessage.*body\\|e.toString" --include="*.java"

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Remediation Steps

1. Return generic error messages to users

2. Log detailed errors internally with correlation IDs

3. Disable debug mode in production

4. Review error responses for information leakage

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Key Imports

import java.util.UUID;

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Verification

After remediation:

• Run SAST scanner to confirm vulnerability is resolved

• Review all instances of the vulnerable pattern

• Add unit tests that verify the secure implementation

• Check for similar patterns in related code

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Trigger Examples

Fix CWE-200 vulnerability
Resolve Information Exposure issue
Secure this Java code against information exposure
SAST reports CWE-200

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Common Vulnerable Locations

| Layer | Files | Patterns | |-------|-------|----------|

| Controller | *Controller.java | User input handling |

| Service | *Service.java | Business logic |

| Repository | *Repository.java | Data access |

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References

• CWE-200: Information Exposure

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Source: Generated by Java CWE Security Skills Generator Last Updated: 2026-03-07