Detections
Analytics

O19C-00-018400 - Oracle Database must restrict error messages so only authorized personnel may view them.

Information

Any database management system (DBMS) or associated application providing too much information in error messages on the screen or printout risks compromising the data and security of the system. The structure and content of error messages need to be carefully considered by the organization and development team.

Databases can inadvertently provide a wealth of information to an attacker through improperly handled error messages. In addition to sensitive business or personal information, database errors can provide host names, IP addresses, usernames, and other system information not required for troubleshooting but very useful to someone targeting the system.

Carefully consider the structure/content of error messages. The extent to which information systems are able to identify and handle error conditions is guided by organizational policy and operational requirements. Information that could be exploited by adversaries includes, for example, logon attempts with passwords entered by mistake as the username, mission/business information that can be derived from (if not stated explicitly by) information recorded, and personal information, such as account numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers.

This requires for inspection of application source code, which will involve collaboration with the application developers. It is recognized that in many cases, the database administrator (DBA) is organizationally separate from the application developers, and may have limited, if any, access to source code. Nevertheless, protections of this type are so important to the secure operation of databases that they must not be ignored. At a minimum, the DBA must attempt to obtain assurances from the development organization that this issue has been addressed and must document what has been discovered.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

For each end-user-facing application that displays DBMS-generated error messages, configure or recode it to suppress these messages.

If the application is coded in Oracle PL/SQL, the EXCEPTION block can be used to suppress or divert error messages. Most other programming languages provide comparable facilities, such as TRY ... CATCH.

For each unauthorized user of each tool, remove the ability to access it. For each tool where access to DBMS error messages is not required and can be configured, suppress the messages. For each role/user that needs access to the error messages or needs a tool where the messages cannot be suppressed, document the need in the system documentation.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_Oracle_Database_19c_V1R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND INFORMATION INTEGRITY

References: 800-53|SI-11b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-001314, Rule-ID|SV-270584r1065296_rule, STIG-ID|O19C-00-018400, Vuln-ID|V-270584

Plugin: OracleDB

Control ID: 4e36686013465017c742e7bec7d6323cbf6e9c182b33caddf5186170ba691970