CWE-261β€”Weak Encoding for Password

PUBLISHEDweakness record
released 2006-07-19 Β· last modified 2026-04-30

Metadata

CWE ID:
CWE-261
Abstraction:
Base
Structure:
Simple
Status:
Incomplete
Release Date:
2006-07-19
Latest Modification Date:
2026-04-30

Weakness Name

Weak Encoding for Password

Description

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

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.

Common Consequences

Scope:
Access Control
Impact:
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

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