Researchers Leveraged OAuth Misconfiguration to Access Sensitive Data Without Restrictions

The researcher uncovered exposed OAuth credentials that granted unrestricted access to sensitive user data, demonstrating how a seemingly minor misconfiguration can lead to severe security breaches. The report serves as a reminder for developers to implement proper OAuth configuration practices, including secure storage of client secrets, appropriate scope limitations, and regular security audits of authentication systems. However, when improperly configured, these systems can inadvertently expose access tokens or client credentials, creating significant security vulnerabilities. The exposed credentials provided the researcher with elevated privileges, allowing access to user profiles, personal information, and potentially financial data stored within the application’s database. What made this vulnerability particularly severe was that the client credentials were configured for a service account with administrative privileges rather than being limited to the specific resources needed by the client application. A security researcher identified as Remy disclosed a critical vulnerability discovered during a YesWeHack bug bounty engagement. Cyber Security News is a Dedicated News Platform For Cyber News, Cyber Attack News, Hacking News & Vulnerability Analysis. OAuth 2.0, an industry-standard protocol for authorization, is widely implemented across web applications to enable secure third-party access to user resources without exposing credentials. While examining network traffic during normal application use, Remy identified OAuth token requests that exposed the client_id and client_secret parameters, which should never be publicly accessible. With years of experience under his belt in Cyber Security, he is covering Cyber Security News, technology and other news. RMSec analysts, upon reviewing the findings, noted that this type of vulnerability represents a common yet dangerous oversight in API security. The exploitation process began when the researcher discovered client credentials within the application’s frontend code.

This Cyber News was published on cybersecuritynews.com. Publication date: Thu, 01 May 2025 06:15:08 +0000


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