Information Disclosure Flaws

Path traversal vulnerabilities in file-handling libraries allow attackers to access files outside intended directories. Archive extraction libraries, file upload processors, and template engines frequently contain these flaws. The Zip Slip vulnerability affected numerous archive processing libraries across multiple programming languages, allowing attackers to overwrite arbitrary files during archive extraction. This vulnerability pattern demonstrates how a common functionality implemented incorrectly can affect diverse applications.

Error message information leaks in dependencies can reveal sensitive system information, stack traces, or internal state. Logging libraries, web frameworks, and API libraries might expose detailed error information in production environments. While useful for debugging, this information helps attackers understand system architecture, identify other vulnerable components, and craft targeted attacks. The challenge lies in dependencies having different verbosity expectations than production applications require.

Source code disclosure vulnerabilities occur when dependencies inadvertently serve source files or configuration. Development servers bundled with web frameworks, debugging endpoints left enabled, or misconfigured static file serving can expose application source code. These vulnerabilities often arise from components designed for development use being inadvertently used in production, highlighting the importance of understanding dependency behavior across environments.