Information Disclosure Attack
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A Information Disclosure Attack is a cybersecurity attack that aims to access, expose, or leak confidential or sensitive information from a target system without proper authorization.
- Context:
- It can target Database Systems by exploiting vulnerabilities like SQL Injection to retrieve sensitive records.
- It can involve bypassing Authentication Mechanisms to gain unauthorized access to protected resources.
- It can exploit weaknesses in Access Control policies, allowing attackers to view restricted files or data.
- It can be the result of a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability, where attackers can steal session tokens or other sensitive information by injecting malicious scripts.
- It can be executed through a Man-in-the-Middle Attack by intercepting data transmission between two parties, revealing private communication.
- It can occur in Cloud-based Systems if misconfigurations expose internal data or services to public access.
- It can involve the exploitation of LLM-based System Vulnerabilities where sensitive outputs are inadvertently disclosed by an AI model.
- It can be used to extract Personal Identifiable Information (PII) such as names, addresses, and social security numbers from compromised systems.
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- Example(s):
- SQL Injection Vulnerability (that can be exploited by an SQL Injection Attack), where attackers retrieve sensitive data like credit card information or user credentials from a database.
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability (that can be exploited by an XSS Attack), where attackers steal session cookies, allowing them to impersonate legitimate users.
- Man-in-the-Middle Vulnerability (that can be exploited by a Man-in-the-Middle Attack), where attackers intercept and decrypt sensitive data in transit, such as login credentials or financial transactions.
- Cloud Misconfiguration Vulnerability (that can be exploited by a Cloud-based Information Disclosure Attack), where sensitive data or APIs are publicly exposed due to improper configuration of cloud services.
- LLM-based System Vulnerability (that can be exploited by an LLM-based System Security Attack), where an AI system inadvertently discloses confidential information it learned from its training data.
- Improper File Permission Vulnerability (that can be exploited by a File Access Attack), where sensitive documents or files are exposed to unauthorized users due to incorrect access control settings.
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- Counter-Example(s):
- Denial of Service Attack (DoS), which focuses on making systems unavailable rather than disclosing information.
- Ransomware Attack, which primarily seeks to encrypt files for ransom rather than stealing or leaking data.
- Phishing Attack, which aims to deceive users into providing credentials or other information but doesn’t directly involve exploiting system vulnerabilities for disclosure.
- See: Data Breach, SQL Injection Attack, Cross-Site Scripting, Man-in-the-Middle Attack, Cloud Security, Information Security, Access Control, Confidentiality in Cybersecurity.