CWE-311βMissing Encryption of Sensitive Data
PUBLISHEDweakness recordHigh
released 2006-07-19 Β· last modified 2026-04-30
Metadata
- CWE ID:
- CWE-311
- Abstraction:
- Class
- Structure:
- Simple
- Status:
- Draft
- Release Date:
- 2006-07-19
- Latest Modification Date:
- 2026-04-30
Weakness Name
Missing Encryption of Sensitive Data
Description
The product does not encrypt sensitive or critical information before storage or transmission.
Common Consequences
- Scope:
- Confidentiality
- Impact:
- Read Application Data
- Notes:
- If the application does not use a secure channel, such as SSL, to exchange sensitive information, it is possible for an attacker with access to the network traffic to sniff packets from the connection and uncover the data. This attack is not technically difficult, but does require physical access to some portion of the network over which the sensitive data travels. This access is usually somewhere near where the user is connected to the network (such as a colleague on the company network) but can be anywhere along the path from the user to the end server.
- Scope:
- Confidentiality, Integrity
- Impact:
- Modify Application Data
- Notes:
- Omitting the use of encryption in any program which transfers data over a network of any kind should be considered on par with delivering the data sent to each user on the local networks of both the sender and receiver. Worse, this omission allows for the injection of data into a stream of communication between two parties -- with no means for the victims to separate valid data from invalid. In this day of widespread network attacks and password collection sniffers, it is an unnecessary risk to omit encryption from the design of any system which might benefit from it.
