Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (CWE-319)

Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

The product transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors.

Many communication channels can be sniffed by attackers during data transmission. When sensitive data is transmitted without encryption, an attacker can intercept and read this information. Secure channels like TLS should be used to protect sensitive data in transit.

Prevalence

High

Frequently exploited

Impact

High

5 high-severity rules

Prevention

Documented

6 fix examples

2 Prevention

How to fix this vulnerability

🐹 Go View all Go details →

Echo Running Without TLS HIGH

Use StartTLS instead of Start to enable HTTPS encryption

+1 -1 go

  package main
  
  import "github.com/labstack/echo/v4"
  
  func main() {
      e := echo.New()
      e.POST("/api/login", loginHandler)
-     e.Start(":8080")
+     e.StartTLS(":443", "cert.pem", "key.pem")
  }

Fiber Running Without TLS HIGH

Use ListenTLS instead of Listen to enable HTTPS encryption

+1 -1 go

  package main
  
  import "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
  
  func main() {
      app := fiber.New()
      app.Post("/api/login", loginHandler)
-     app.Listen(":3000")
+     app.ListenTLS(":443", "cert.pem", "key.pem")
  }

Gin Running Without TLS LOW

Use RunTLS instead of Run to enable HTTPS encryption

+1 -1 go

  package main
  
  import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
  
  func main() {
      r := gin.Default()
      r.POST("/api/login", loginHandler)
-     r.Run(":8080")
+     r.RunTLS(":443", "cert.pem", "key.pem")
  }

☸️ Kubernetes View all Kubernetes details →

Ingress Missing TLS Configuration HIGH

Configure TLS on Ingress resources to encrypt traffic in transit

+8 -1 yaml

  apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
  kind: Ingress
- spec:
+ metadata:
+   annotations:
+     cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
+ spec:
+   tls:
+   - hosts:
+     - example.com
+     secretName: example-tls
    rules:
    - host: example.com
      http:
        paths:
        - path: /
          pathType: Prefix
          backend:
            service:
              name: web
              port:
                number: 80

Insecure TLS Verification Disabled HIGH

Remove insecure-skip-tls-verify and use proper certificate verification with CA certificates

+1 -1 yaml

  apiVersion: v1
  clusters:
  - cluster:
      server: https://192.168.0.100:8443
-     insecure-skip-tls-verify: true
+     certificate-authority: /path/to/ca.crt
    name: my-cluster
  kind: Config

🐍 Python View all Python details →

HTTP Used Instead of HTTPS HIGH

Use HTTPS for all external requests and enable SSL redirect in frameworks

+2 -2 python

  import requests
  
- API_URL = "http://api.example.com"
- response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/data")
+ API_URL = "https://api.example.com"
+ response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/data", verify=True, timeout=10)

3 Detection

Find vulnerabilities in your code

Use Shoulder to scan your codebase for Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information patterns. 6 rules.

terminal

# Scan with Shoulder CLI
npx @shoulderdev/cli trust --cwe=319

# Or scan entire project
npx @shoulderdev/cli trust .

Detection Rules (6)

🐹 Go 3 rules

Echo Running Without TLS HIGH

Echo server running over HTTP instead of HTTPS.

Fiber Running Without TLS HIGH

Fiber server running over HTTP instead of HTTPS.

Gin Running Without TLS LOW

Gin server running over HTTP instead of HTTPS.

📄 Yaml 2 rules

Ingress Missing TLS Configuration HIGH

Detects Kubernetes Ingress resources without TLS configuration.

Insecure TLS Verification Disabled HIGH

Detects when TLS certificate verification is disabled in Kubernetes configurations.

☸️ Kubernetes 1 rules

Ingress Missing TLS Configuration HIGH

Detects Kubernetes Ingress resources without TLS configuration.

🐍 Python 1 rules

HTTP Used Instead of HTTPS HIGH

Detects use of unencrypted HTTP for sensitive operations like API calls, authentication, payment processing, or data transmission. HTTP traffic is sent in cleartext and can be intercepted. Always use HTTPS.

4 Warning Signs

What to watch for in code reviews

These patterns indicate potential Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information vulnerabilities. Look for these during code reviews and security audits.

🟠

Ingress exposes HTTP traffic without TLS encryption kubernetes-ingress-missing-tls

🟠

Kubernetes Ingress resources without TLS configuration kubernetes-ingress-missing-tls

🟠

TLS certificate verification disabled (vulnerable to MITM attacks) kubernetes-skip-tls-verify

🟠

when TLS certificate verification is disabled in Kubernetes configurations kubernetes-skip-tls-verify

🟠

use of unencrypted HTTP for sensitive operations like API calls, authentication, payment processing, python-http-not-https

🔍

Scan your codebase for Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information

Shoulder CLI finds vulnerable patterns across your entire codebase.

npx shoulder trust Browse all rules