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CVE-2016-6798 — XML External Entity Reference in...

CRITICAL

XML External Entity Reference in Apache Sling

Published May 17, 2022Updated February 16, 2024Source: osv

Summary

In the XSS Protection API module before 1.0.12 in Apache Sling, the method XSS.getValidXML() uses an insecure SAX parser to validate the input string, which allows for XXE attacks in all scripts which use this method to validate user input, potentially allowing an attacker to read sensitive data on the filesystem, perform same-site-request-forgery (SSRF), port-scanning behind the firewall or DoS the application.

Advisory Timeline

  • First published May 17, 2022 (1609 days ago).
  • Last revised February 16, 2024 — 640 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Maven
Update org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss.compat to 1.1.0 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 1.1.0 for org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss.compat -->
Maven
Update org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss to 1.0.12 or later
<!-- Update pom.xml dependency version to 1.0.12 for org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss -->

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

Affects 1 ecosystem: maven (2).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss.compat
maven
1.0.01.1.0
org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss
maven
1.0.0, 1.0.2, 1.0.4, 1.0.6 (+1 more)1.0.12

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-611
    XML External Entity (XXE)MITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-6798?
XML External Entity Reference in Apache Sling This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2016-6798?
CVE-2016-6798 affects org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss.compat and org.apache.sling:org.apache.sling.xss. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2016-6798 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.8

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-7g54-vgp6-jj5w

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