CV0-004 · Question #154
A developer at a small startup company deployed some code for a new feature to its public repository. A few days later, a data breach occurred. A security team investigated the incident and found…
The correct answer is B. Hard-coded credentials. The most likely cause of the data breach is hard-coded credentials being exposed in the public repository. If the developer accidentally included database usernames and passwords in the code and pushed it to a publicly accessible repository, attackers could easily find and use…
Question
A developer at a small startup company deployed some code for a new feature to its public repository. A few days later, a data breach occurred. A security team investigated the incident and found that the database was hacked. Which of the following is the most likely cause of this breach?
Options
- ADatabase core dump
- BHard-coded credentials
- CCompromised deployment agent
- DUnpatched web servers
How the community answered
(17 responses)- A6% (1)
- B71% (12)
- C18% (3)
- D6% (1)
Explanation
The most likely cause of the data breach is hard-coded credentials being exposed in the public repository. If the developer accidentally included database usernames and passwords in the code and pushed it to a publicly accessible repository, attackers could easily find and use them to gain unauthorized access. This is a common security oversight that leads to database Attackers often scan public repositories for sensitive information using automated tools, making hard-coded credentials a significant risk. Best practices include using environment variables, secret management tools (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault), and removing credentials from source code before committing.
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