Hardcoding or storing a password in plaintext could result in a system compromise.
Password management issues occur when a password is hardcoded or stored in plaintext in an application's configuration files or other data store. It is never a good idea to hardcode a password. Not only does hardcoding a password allow all of the project's developers to view the password, it also makes fixing the problem extremely difficult. Once the code is in production, the password cannot be changed without patching the software. If the account protected by the password is compromised, the owners of the system will be forced to choose between security and availability
Example: The following code authenticates the user by reading the password that the user used to log into the database server and comparing it to an expected value.
...
ip_address := OWA_SEC.get_client_ip;
IF ((OWA_SEC.get_user_id = 'scott') AND
(OWA_SEC.get_password = 'tiger') AND
(ip_address(1) = 144) and (ip_address(2) = 25)) THEN
RETURN TRUE;
ELSE
RETURN FALSE;
END IF;
...
[1] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2010 - (OWASP 2010) A7 Insecure Cryptographic Storage
[2] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2007 - (OWASP 2007) A8 Insecure Cryptographic Storage
[3] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 - (OWASP 2004) A8 Insecure Storage
[4] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3 - (STIG 3) APP3210.1 CAT II, APP3340 CAT I
[5] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration - (CWE) CWE ID 256
[6] Standards Mapping - FIPS200 - (FISMA) IA
[7] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.2 - (PCI 1.2) Requirement 3.4, Requirement 6.3.1.3, Requirement 6.5.8, Requirement 8.4
[8] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 - (PCI 2.0) Requirement 3.4, Requirement 6.5.3, Requirement 8.4
[9] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 - (PCI 1.1) Requirement 3.4, Requirement 6.5.8, Requirement 8.4