In most cases, trust boundaries are violated when a secret is exposed in a source code repository or an uncontrolled deployment environment.
Unintended people who don’t need to know the secret might get access to it. They might then be able to use it to gain unwanted access to associated
services or resources.
The trust issue can be more or less severe depending on the people’s role and entitlement.
What is the potential impact?
If an attacker gains access to a eBay OAuth credentials, they might be able to authenticate as users or applications.
Below are some real-world scenarios that illustrate some impacts of an attacker exploiting the secret.
Financial loss
Financial losses can occur when a secret used to access eBay APIs is disclosed as part of the source code of client applications.
As eBay provides APIs that allow user or applications to sell or to buy products, an attacker could use the secret to change price or buy items
using the organization’s account.
Compromise of sensitive personal data
This kind of service is often used to exchange information that could include personal information, chat logs, and other private data that users
have shared on the platform. This is called Personally Identifiable Information.
The leaked app key could provide a gateway for unauthorized individuals to access and misuse this data, compromising the privacy and safety of the
application users.
In many industries and locations, there are legal and compliance requirements to protect sensitive data. If this kind of sensitive personal data
gets leaked, companies face legal consequences, penalties, or violations of privacy laws.
