CSHARP.CRYPTO.BASE64 : Unsafe Base64 Encoding (C#)

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CSHARP.CRYPTO.BASE64 : Unsafe Base64 Encoding (C#)

Summary

Base64 encoding is used. This encoding is relatively easy to decode and should not be used with sensitive data.

Properties

Class Name

Unsafe Base64 Encoding (C#)

Significance

security

Mnemonic

CSHARP.CRYPTO.BASE64

Categories

CWE	CWE:327	Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
OWASP-2017	OWASP-2017:A2	Broken authentication
OWASP-2021	OWASP-2021:A2	Cryptographic failures
	OWASP-2021:A4	Insecure design
OWASP-2025	OWASP-2025:A04	Cryptographic Failures
	OWASP-2025:A06	Insecure Design

Availability

Available for C# only.

Enabling

Checks for this warning class are disabled by default, and require pedantic C# analysis mode which is also disabled by default. To enable the checks, make the following changes to the project configuration file.

CSHARP_ANALYSIS_PEDANTIC_MODE = Yes
WARNING_FILTER += allow class="Unsafe Base64 Encoding (C#)"

Example

using System;
using System.Security.Cryptography;

namespace DocumentationExamples
{
    public class Cryptography
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            DES.Create();                         // Risky Cryptographic Field (C#) warning issued here 
            SHA256.Create();
            MD5.Create();                         // Weak Hash Algorithm (C#) warning issued here 

            string mypassword = "HELLO WORLD!";
            Convert.FromBase64String(mypassword); // Unsafe Base64 Encoding (C#) warning issued here 

            AesCryptoServiceProvider provider = new AesCryptoServiceProvider();
            provider.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;       // Cryptographic Algorithm with Weak Cipher (C#) warning issued here 
                                                  // - AesCryptoServiceProvider is a secure algorithm, but ECB is an unsafe cipher mode.

        }
    }
}

Resolution

Use a safer cryptography algorithm.

Relevant Configuration File Parameters

The following configuration file parameters affect checks for this warning class.

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