CWE-555 J2EE Misconfiguration: Plaintext Password in Configuration File

The J2EE application stores a plaintext password in a configuration file.

• Access Control: Bypass Protection Mechanism — Storing a plaintext password in a configuration file allows anyone who can read the file to access the password-protected resource, making it an easy target for attackers.

• [Architecture and Design] Do not hardwire passwords into your software. • [Architecture and Design] Use industry standard libraries to encrypt passwords before storage in configuration files.

• Automated Static Analysis: Automated static analysis, commonly referred to as Static Application Security Testing (SAST), can find some instances of this weakness by analyzing source code (or binary/compiled code) without having to execute it. Typically, this is done by building a model of data flow and control flow, then searching for potentially-vulnerable patterns that connect "sources" (origins of input) with "sinks" (destinations where the data interacts with external components, a lower layer such as the OS, etc.)