Description

Detects hardcoded Basic Authentication credentials in HTTP request headers in C# applications. Using hardcoded credentials in source code exposes sensitive authentication information that could be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to protected resources.

Detection Strategy

• Identifies calls to Headers.Add() method on web request objects

• Checks if the header being added contains Basic Authentication credentials

• Verifies that the header value contains hardcoded credentials rather than dynamic/configurable values

• Reports a vulnerability when Basic Authentication credentials are directly embedded in the source code

Vulnerable code example

using System.Net;

public class UnsafeRequest {
    public WebResponse CreateRequest() {
        WebRequest request = WebRequest.Create("https://api.example.com");
        request.Method = "POST";
        // VULNERABLE: Hardcoded credentials in Authorization header
        request.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Basic dXNlcjpwYXNz");...

✅ Secure code example

using System;
using System.Net;

public class SafeRequest {
    private readonly string _apiUrl;
    
    public SafeRequest(string apiUrl) {
        _apiUrl = apiUrl;...