Security Resilience

CWE · MITRE source

CWE-538Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory

Abstraction: Base · CVEs in our corpus: 104

The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.

Last updated: 15 October 2026 20:36 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: partial · 2 mapping(s) from 2 framework(s): STIG oracle linux 8 1 (partial) · STIG rhel 8 1 (partial)

See the full cumulative-coverage rollup →

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

This weakness contributes to A01:2025 Broken Access Control.

Control responseHuman-reviewed

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

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53 / CSF Protect)
  • RA-2 Security Categorization
  • RA-8 Privacy Impact Assessments
  • AC-22 Publicly Accessible Content
  • AU-13 Monitoring for Information Disclosure
Detect
Catch it (CSF Detect / Respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.1.2
  • V14.2.8

NIST 800-53 r5 controls PROPOSED for this weakness (8)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
RA-2Security CategorizationRAApproved categorization forces identification of externally accessible files that contain sensitive content so they receive proper protection.
RA-8Privacy Impact AssessmentsRAThe pre-implementation review identifies externally accessible files or directories containing PII and drives access restrictions or removal.
AC-22Publicly Accessible ContentACPre- and post-publication reviews prevent insertion of sensitive information into externally-accessible public locations.
AU-13Monitoring for Information DisclosureAUMonitors for sensitive information placed in externally accessible files or directories.
CM-13Data Action MappingCMThe map shows if data actions result in sensitive information being placed in externally accessible locations.
IR-9Information Spillage ResponseIRIsolation and eradication reduce the ability to exploit sensitive information inserted into externally-accessible files or directories.
SI-20TaintingSITainting makes it possible to determine when sensitive data has been removed from externally accessible files or directories.
SR-7Supply Chain Operations SecuritySROPSEC practices stop placement of supply-chain information into locations accessible to external parties.

Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Published
CVE-2019-6851 7.47.50.29122019-10-29
CVE-2016-20024 7.49.80.00752026-03-16
CVE-2023-28444 7.29.90.00762023-03-24
CVE-2025-12059 7.29.80.00362026-02-11
CVE-2023-7062 6.78.80.00722024-07-10
CVE-2026-49298 6.78.80.00812026-06-01
CVE-2024-22433 6.48.80.00642024-02-06
CVE-2024-51977 6.45.30.46632025-06-25
CVE-2023-46723 6.38.90.00402023-10-31
CVE-2018-10590 6.27.50.01662018-05-15
CVE-2022-23508 6.28.80.00322023-01-09
CVE-2016-10399 6.17.50.01412017-07-27
CVE-2023-4595 6.07.50.00722023-11-23
CVE-2026-21672 6.08.80.00232026-03-12
CVE-2026-27173 6.08.70.00212026-05-19
CVE-2020-37104 5.97.50.00642026-02-11
CVE-2019-257065.97.50.00532026-04-12
CVE-2021-21250 5.87.70.00942021-01-15
CVE-2022-4318 5.87.80.00292023-09-25
CVE-2023-54346 5.87.50.00312026-05-05
CVE-2026-15574 5.87.50.00442026-07-13
CVE-2018-11798 5.76.50.04912019-01-07
CVE-2025-61138 5.77.50.00292025-11-20
CVE-2021-40363 5.67.80.00162022-02-09
CVE-2025-68429 5.67.30.00262025-12-17