COMMON WEAKNESS ENUMERATIONIncomplete

CWE-525

Use of Web Browser Cache Containing Sensitive Information

The web application does not use an appropriate caching policy that specifies the extent to which each web page and associated form fields should be cached.

Abstraction

Variant

Structure

Simple

Likelihood of Exploit

Medium

Understand the problem

What is the problem?

The web application does not use an appropriate caching policy that specifies the extent to which each web page and associated form fields should be cached.

Root cause

How and when does the problem arise?

Lifecycle phase

Implementation

Risk

What does successful exploitation lead to?

Read Application Data

Affected security scopes: Confidentiality

Browsers often store information in a client-side cache, which can leave behind sensitive information for other users to find and exploit, such as passwords or credit card numbers. The locations at most risk include public terminals, such as those in libraries and Internet cafes.

Defence

How is it prevented and fixed?

Architecture and Design

Architecture and design approach

Detail
Protect information stored in cache.

Implementation

Implementation-phase defence

Detail
Use a restrictive caching policy for forms and web pages that potentially contain sensitive information, such as "no-cache" in the Cache-Control header.

Architecture and Design

Architecture and design approach

Detail
Do not store unnecessarily sensitive information in the cache.

Architecture and Design

Architecture and design approach

Detail
Consider using encryption in the cache.