Obscuring a password with a trivial encoding does not protect the password.
Password management issues occur when a password is stored in plaintext in an application's properties or configuration file. A programmer can attempt to remedy the password management problem by obscuring the password with an encoding function, such as base 64 encoding, but this effort does not adequately protect the password.

Primary

Architecture and Design
COMMISSION: This weakness refers to an incorrect design related to an architectural security tactic.

Access Control
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity

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.)
High

Passwords should be encrypted with keys that are at least 128 bits in length for adequate security.

The following code reads a password from a properties file and uses the password to connect to a database.

...Properties prop = new Properties();prop.load(new FileInputStream("config.properties"));String password = Base64.decode(prop.getProperty("password"));DriverManager.getConnection(url, usr, password);...

This code will run successfully, but anyone with access to config.properties can read the value of password and easily determine that the value has been base 64 encoded. If a devious employee has access to this information, they can use it to break into the system.

The following code reads a password from the registry and uses the password to create a new network credential.

...string value = regKey.GetValue(passKey).ToString();byte[] decVal = Convert.FromBase64String(value);NetworkCredential netCred = newNetworkCredential(username,decVal.toString(),domain);...

This code will run successfully, but anyone who has access to the registry key used to store the password can read the value of password. If a devious employee has access to this information, they can use it to break into the system.

Password Management: Weak Cryptography

A8
Insecure Storage
CWE More Specific

Allowed
This CWE entry is at the Base level of abstraction, which is a preferred level of abstraction for mapping to the root causes of vulnerabilities.
Carefully read both the name and description to ensure that this mapping is an appropriate fit. Do not try to 'force' a mapping to a lower-level Base/Variant simply to comply with this preferred level of abstraction.

The "crypt" family of functions uses weak cryptographic algorithms and should be avoided. It may be present in some projects for compatibility.

7 Pernicious Kingdoms
2006-07-19
Draft 3
2006-07-19

Veracode
2008-08-15
Suggested OWASP Top Ten 2004 mapping

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2008-09-08
updated Relationships, Other_Notes, Taxonomy_Mappings

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2009-07-27
updated Demonstrative_Examples

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2011-03-29
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2011-06-01
updated Common_Consequences

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2012-05-11
updated References, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2014-07-30
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2015-12-07
updated Demonstrative_Examples

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2017-11-08
updated Applicable_Platforms, Modes_of_Introduction, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2020-02-24
updated Description, Name, Other_Notes, References, Relationships, Type

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2021-10-28
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2022-10-13
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-01-31
updated Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-04-27
updated Detection_Factors, Relationships

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2023-06-29
updated Mapping_Notes

CWE Content Team
MITRE
2025-12-11
4.19
2025-12-11
updated Relationships, Weakness_Ordinalities

Weak Cryptography for Passwords