Error Handling Vulnerabilities Overview
Error Handling Vulnerabilities Overview
Proper error handling is crucial for application security and reliability. Error handling vulnerabilities arise when applications fail to properly manage, report, or respond to error conditions. These vulnerabilities can lead to information disclosure, application crashes, or even security bypasses.Implementing secure error handling practices helps protect sensitive information, maintain application stability, and prevent attackers from gaining insights into application internals that could be used for further attacks.
Verbose Error Messages
Verbose Error Messages
- Display generic error messages to users
- Log detailed errors server-side for debugging
- Avoid revealing technical details in production environments
- Implement different error handling for development and production
- Use error codes instead of descriptive messages when possible
Uncaught Exceptions
Uncaught Exceptions
- Use try-catch blocks for error-prone operations
- Implement global error handlers
- Log all exceptions for monitoring and debugging
- Gracefully degrade functionality when errors occur
- Implement proper error recovery mechanisms
- Consider using error monitoring services
Error Information Disclosure
Error Information Disclosure
- Log detailed errors server-side only
- Return generic error messages to clients
- Implement proper error handling for different error types
- Use appropriate HTTP status codes
- Consider implementing custom error pages
- Regularly review error logs for sensitive information
Missing Error Handling for External Services
Missing Error Handling for External Services
- Set appropriate timeouts for external requests
- Implement retry mechanisms with backoff strategies
- Handle different error scenarios appropriately
- Provide fallback mechanisms when services are unavailable
- Monitor external service availability and performance
- Implement circuit breakers for critical dependencies
Improper Error Logging
Improper Error Logging
- Avoid logging sensitive data (passwords, credit cards, personal identifiers)
- Implement data masking for any potentially sensitive information
- Use structured logging formats
- Implement proper log levels and categories
- Secure access to log files and log management systems
- Implement log rotation and retention policies
Revealing Database Errors
Revealing Database Errors
- Log detailed database errors server-side
- Return user-friendly error messages to clients
- Map database error codes to appropriate user messages
- Avoid revealing table names, column names, or SQL syntax in error messages
- Implement proper input validation to prevent database errors
- Use parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection
Missing Error Handling for File Operations
Missing Error Handling for File Operations
- Validate file paths and names
- Check file existence before operations
- Handle permission errors appropriately
- Implement proper error recovery for file operations
- Use try-catch blocks for synchronous file operations
- Handle errors in callbacks for asynchronous file operations
Unhandled Promise Rejections
Unhandled Promise Rejections
- Always include .catch() handlers for promises
- Check response status in fetch requests
- Implement global unhandled rejection handlers
- Consider using async/await with try-catch for cleaner error handling
- Propagate errors appropriately up the call stack
- Implement proper fallback behavior when promises fail
Improper HTTP Status Codes
Improper HTTP Status Codes
- Use appropriate status codes for different scenarios (200 for success, 400 for client errors, 500 for server errors)
- Be consistent with status code usage across the application
- Include meaningful error messages with appropriate status codes
- Consider implementing custom error handlers for different status codes
- Document API error responses for client developers
Error Handling Bypass
Error Handling Bypass
- Ensure caught errors are properly handled
- Return appropriate error indicators from functions
- Don’t suppress errors without proper handling
- Implement consistent error handling patterns
- Consider using error types or codes for different error categories
- Regularly review error handling logic
Missing Error Boundary in UI
Missing Error Boundary in UI
- Use error boundaries to contain component errors
- Implement component-level error states
- Handle data fetching errors properly
- Provide fallback UI for error states
- Log UI errors for debugging
- Consider implementing retry mechanisms for transient errors
Insecure Error Handling in Authentication
Insecure Error Handling in Authentication
- Use generic error messages that don’t reveal whether username or password is incorrect
- Implement consistent response times to prevent timing attacks
- Log authentication failures for security monitoring
- Implement rate limiting and account lockout policies
- Consider using multi-factor authentication
- Monitor for brute force and credential stuffing attacks
Lack of Centralized Error Handling
Lack of Centralized Error Handling
- Create error handling middleware
- Define custom error types for different scenarios
- Implement consistent error logging and reporting
- Use error wrappers for async route handlers
- Ensure all errors are properly propagated to the central handler
- Implement different handling strategies for different error types