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Amirsaeed Sadeghi
Amirsaeed Sadeghi

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Did you know your database schema might be leaking through error messages and stack traces?

AI is now smart enough to reconstruct your database from what looks like harmless errors:

  • SQL errors (constraint violations, duplicate entries)
  • ORM/Model exceptions (table names, class names, line numbers)
  • NoSQL hints (like MongoDB’s “document not found” or “index violation”)

Why is this dangerous?

Attackers can gradually infer your schema:

  • SQL → table names, keys, relationships
  • NoSQL → collection names, document structures, indexes

Insight

Not all databases leak the same way:

  • Relational DBs often reveal too much detail.
  • NoSQL may leak less by default, but verbose logging or misconfiguration changes the game.

What can you do?

  • Never expose raw errors in production.
  • Use generic error handling.
  • Regularly audit your API responses.

What about you?

  • Have you ever seen a “simple” DB error reveal way too much?
  • If you had to choose: SQL with verbose errors or NoSQL with misconfig risks — which one feels safer to you, and why?

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