CVE-2012-2926 in FishEye
Summary
by MITRE
Atlassian JIRA before 5.0.1; Confluence before 3.5.16, 4.0 before 4.0.7, and 4.1 before 4.1.10; FishEye and Crucible before 2.5.8, 2.6 before 2.6.8, and 2.7 before 2.7.12; Bamboo before 3.3.4 and 3.4.x before 3.4.5; and Crowd before 2.0.9, 2.1 before 2.1.2, 2.2 before 2.2.9, 2.3 before 2.3.7, and 2.4 before 2.4.1 do not properly restrict the capabilities of third-party XML parsers, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files or cause a denial of service (resource consumption) via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical XML external entity processing flaw affecting multiple Atlassian products including JIRA, Confluence, FishEye, Crucible, Bamboo, and Crowd. The issue stems from insufficient input validation and improper restriction of XML parser capabilities, specifically allowing attackers to manipulate the underlying XML processing libraries to perform unauthorized operations. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-611, which addresses improper restriction of XML external entity processing, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1213.002 for data from information repositories. The flaw exists across multiple product versions, indicating a systemic issue in how these applications handle XML parsing operations, with affected versions including JIRA before 5.0.1, Confluence versions prior to 3.5.16, 4.0.7, and 4.1.10, and various iterations of FishEye, Crucible, Bamboo, and Crowd products.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit XML parser configurations that permit external entity resolution and resource loading. Attackers can craft malicious XML payloads that reference external resources or attempt to access local files through the XML parser's capabilities. This enables several attack vectors including arbitrary file read operations where sensitive data can be extracted from the server, denial of service scenarios through resource exhaustion attacks, and potentially privilege escalation depending on the application's file system permissions. The vulnerability occurs because the applications do not properly configure XML parsers to disable external entity resolution or to restrict access to local resources during XML processing operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exfiltration to include significant service disruption and potential compromise of entire application environments. Remote attackers can leverage this flaw to access sensitive configuration files, user credentials, application source code, and other confidential data stored on the application servers. The denial of service component can be particularly damaging as it allows attackers to consume system resources such as memory and CPU cycles, potentially leading to application unavailability or system crashes. Organizations using affected versions face the risk of unauthorized data access, service interruptions, and potential compliance violations due to exposure of sensitive information. The vulnerability affects both web applications and server-side processing components, making it particularly dangerous for enterprise environments where these applications typically handle confidential business data and user information.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected applications to the specified fixed versions, as Atlassian has released security updates addressing this specific issue. Organizations should also implement network-level restrictions to limit access to XML processing endpoints and consider disabling external entity resolution in XML parser configurations where possible. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual XML processing patterns or unauthorized file access attempts. Additionally, application-level defenses such as input validation, XML schema validation, and proper error handling should be implemented to reduce the attack surface. Organizations should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify any other applications using vulnerable XML parser configurations and ensure proper security hardening of all XML processing components. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patched applications to ensure that security updates do not introduce compatibility issues or regressions in functionality.