CWE-779 Detail

CWE-779

Logging of Excessive Data
Low
Draft
2009-07-27
00h00 +00:00
2023-06-29
00h00 +00:00
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Name: Logging of Excessive Data

The product logs too much information, making log files hard to process and possibly hindering recovery efforts or forensic analysis after an attack.

CWE Description

While logging is a good practice in general, and very high levels of logging are appropriate for debugging stages of development, too much logging in a production environment might hinder a system administrator's ability to detect anomalous conditions. This can provide cover for an attacker while attempting to penetrate a system, clutter the audit trail for forensic analysis, or make it more difficult to debug problems in a production environment.

General Informations

Modes Of Introduction

Operation : REALIZATION: This weakness is caused during implementation of an architectural security tactic.

Applicable Platforms

Language

Class: Not Language-Specific (Undetermined)

Common Consequences

Scope Impact Likelihood
AvailabilityDoS: Resource Consumption (CPU), DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)

Note: Log files can become so large that they consume excessive resources, such as disk and CPU, which can hinder the performance of the system.
Non-RepudiationHide Activities

Note: Logging too much information can make the log files of less use to forensics analysts and developers when trying to diagnose a problem or recover from an attack.
Non-RepudiationHide Activities

Note: If system administrators are unable to effectively process log files, attempted attacks may go undetected, possibly leading to eventual system compromise.

Observed Examples

References Description

CVE-2007-0421

server records a large amount of data to the server log when it receives malformed headers

CVE-2002-1154

chain: application does not restrict access to front-end for updates, which allows attacker to fill the error log

Potential Mitigations

Phases : Architecture and Design
Suppress large numbers of duplicate log messages and replace them with periodic summaries. For example, syslog may include an entry that states "last message repeated X times" when recording repeated events.
Phases : Architecture and Design
Support a maximum size for the log file that can be controlled by the administrator. If the maximum size is reached, the admin should be notified. Also, consider reducing functionality of the product. This may result in a denial-of-service to legitimate product users, but it will prevent the product from adversely impacting the entire system.
Phases : Implementation
Adjust configurations appropriately when the product is transitioned from a debug state to production.

Vulnerability Mapping Notes

Justification : This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Comment : Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

Submission

Name Organization Date Date release Version
CWE Content Team MITRE 2009-07-02 +00:00 2009-07-27 +00:00 1.5

Modifications

Name Organization Date Comment
CWE Content Team MITRE 2011-06-01 +00:00 updated Common_Consequences
CWE Content Team MITRE 2017-11-08 +00:00 updated Likelihood_of_Exploit, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2020-02-24 +00:00 updated Relationships
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-01-31 +00:00 updated Description, Potential_Mitigations
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-04-27 +00:00 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
CWE Content Team MITRE 2023-06-29 +00:00 updated Mapping_Notes