Security Resilience

CWE · MITRE source

CWE-312Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information

Abstraction: Base · CVEs in our corpus: 886

The product stores sensitive information in cleartext within a resource that might be accessible to another control sphere.

Last updated: 15 October 2026 12:19 UTC

Cumulative inbound coverage

How completely the frameworks we cross-walk collectively cover this — the verdict is the strongest single mapping (overlapping partials are not summed); breadth shows the corroboration behind it.

Collective: mostly · 4 mapping(s) from 4 framework(s): STIG oracle linux 8 1 (mostly) · STIG oracle linux 9 1 (mostly) · STIG rhel 8 1 (mostly) · ATT&CK 1 (mostly)

See the full cumulative-coverage rollup →

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

This weakness contributes to A06:2025 Insecure Design.

Control responseHuman-reviewed

Answering this weakness across the control lifecycle, from our framework cross-walks.

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53 / CSF Protect)
  • SC-12 Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management
  • SC-28 Protection of Information at Rest
  • SC-38 Operations Security
  • CM-13 Data Action Mapping
Detect
Catch it (CSF Detect / Respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 4 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.2.8

NIST 800-53 r5 controls PROPOSED for this weakness (7)AI-assisted

These are model PROPOSALS, not graded mappings. They come from controls_to_cwe_proposals, which carries no grade field at all; across the CWE pages 1,540 of 1,722 such associations (89%) have never been graded by anything. The heading said “address” until 2026-09-29, which asserted a relationship the data does not carry. Graded cross-walks are on the framework map, not here.

Control Title Family Why it addresses this CWE
SC-28Protection of Information at RestSCgraded full Requiring confidentiality protection for information at rest eliminates cleartext storage of sensitive data on persistent media.
SC-12Cryptographic Key Establishment and ManagementSCKey-management policy requires protected storage of key material, preventing cleartext storage of sensitive cryptographic keys.
SC-38Operations SecuritySCReduces cleartext storage of sensitive data when OPSEC identifies and mandates protection of key information artifacts.
CM-13Data Action MappingCMData action mapping can detect storage actions that leave sensitive information in cleartext.
CM-6Configuration SettingsCMConfiguration policies can mandate secure storage methods to avoid cleartext storage of sensitive information.
AT-3Role-based TrainingATTraining on secure data handling discourages cleartext storage of sensitive information.
MP-1Policy and ProceduresMPPolicy requires protection measures such as encryption for sensitive data stored on media, preventing cleartext exposure.

Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Published
CVE-2022-26148 9.49.80.52512022-03-21
CVE-2023-50719 8.47.50.83552023-12-15
CVE-2019-0285 8.09.80.06612019-04-10
CVE-2020-5723 8.09.80.05892020-03-30
CVE-2001-1481 7.89.80.02902001-12-31
CVE-2023-31069 7.89.80.03692023-09-11
CVE-2008-0174 7.79.80.01962008-01-29
CVE-2014-5433 7.79.80.02062019-03-26
CVE-2019-19228 7.79.80.01902019-12-04
CVE-2019-9823 7.69.80.01572019-07-03
CVE-2019-9873 7.69.80.01562019-07-03
CVE-2011-4723 KEV 7.55.70.03062011-12-20
CVE-2018-18641 7.59.80.00932018-12-04
CVE-2019-11384 7.59.80.00992019-04-22
CVE-2019-13096 7.59.80.01142019-07-22
CVE-2021-36782 7.59.90.04172022-09-07
CVE-2020-15332 7.59.80.00892022-09-29
CVE-2023-22894 KEV 7.54.90.03612023-04-19
CVE-2017-5249 7.49.80.00692018-02-22
CVE-2017-5250 7.49.80.00692018-02-22
CVE-2018-18394 7.49.80.00712018-10-19
CVE-2019-18868 7.49.80.00842020-05-07
CVE-2021-29954 7.49.80.00642021-06-24
CVE-2025-34216 7.49.80.00812025-09-29
CVE-2023-33373 7.39.80.00422023-08-04