以明文形式硬編碼或存儲一個密碼可能會危及系統安全。
當密碼以明文形式硬編碼或存儲在應用程序的配置文件或其他數據存儲器中時，會發生 Password Management 漏洞。使用硬編碼方式處理密碼絕對不是一種好方法。這不僅是因為所有項目開發人員都可以使用通過硬編碼方式處理的密碼，而且還會使解決這一問題變得極其困難。一旦代碼投入使用，除非對軟件進行修補，否則您再也不能改變密碼了。如果帳戶中的密碼保護減弱，系統所有者將被迫在安全性和可行性之間做出選擇。
示例：下面的代碼通過將用戶提供的用于登錄數據庫的密碼與期望的密碼進行比較，從而對用戶進行身份驗證。
...
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 - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.4 - (STIG 3.4) APP3210.1 CAT II, APP3340 CAT I
[6] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration - (CWE) CWE ID 256
[7] Standards Mapping - FIPS200 - (FISMA) IA
[8] 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
[9] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 - (PCI 2.0) Requirement 3.4, Requirement 6.5.3, Requirement 8.4
[10] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 - (PCI 1.1) Requirement 3.4, Requirement 6.5.8, Requirement 8.4