CVE-2018-1835 in Daeja ViewONE
Summary
by MITRE
IBM Daeja ViewONE Professional, Standard & Virtual 5 is vulnerable to a XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 150514.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-1835 affects IBM Daeja ViewONE Professional, Standard, and Virtual versions 5, presenting a critical XML External Entity Injection flaw that enables remote attackers to manipulate XML processing mechanisms. This vulnerability resides within the application's handling of XML data structures, specifically when parsing documents that contain external entity references. The flaw allows malicious actors to exploit the XML parser's behavior by including external entity declarations that reference remote resources or local files within the system. Such exploitation can lead to unauthorized data disclosure, as the parser may retrieve and process content from external sources, potentially exposing sensitive system information or internal network resources.
The technical implementation of this XXE vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization within the XML processing pipeline of IBM Daeja ViewONE. When the application receives XML data containing external entity references, it fails to properly restrict or disable external entity resolution, enabling attackers to craft malicious XML payloads that can trigger unintended system behavior. This weakness aligns with CWE-611, which categorizes insecure direct object references and improper handling of external entities in XML parsers. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application processes XML documents that include external entity declarations, allowing an attacker to construct requests that can either retrieve sensitive data from the server or cause resource exhaustion through excessive memory consumption.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risk to organizations utilizing IBM Daeja ViewONE, as it enables remote code execution capabilities and information disclosure attacks without requiring authentication. Attackers can leverage this flaw to access confidential documents, system files, or internal network information that should remain protected. The memory consumption aspect of the vulnerability poses additional operational concerns, as malicious XML payloads can be designed to cause denial of service conditions by exhausting available system resources. The impact extends beyond simple data exposure to include potential system instability and service disruption, particularly in environments where the application handles large volumes of XML documents or serves multiple concurrent users.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including disabling external entity resolution in all XML parsers used by the application, implementing strict input validation for XML content, and restricting network access to the affected system. The recommended approach involves configuring XML parsers to reject external entity declarations and setting up proper network segmentation to limit access to the vulnerable application. Additionally, regular security updates and patches from IBM should be applied immediately upon availability to address the root cause. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059 for command and script injection and T1190 for exploitation of remote services, highlighting the multi-faceted attack surface that organizations must defend against. System administrators should also consider implementing network monitoring solutions to detect suspicious XML processing activities and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing XXE vulnerabilities in document processing applications. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper XML security configuration and demonstrates the critical need for regular security assessments of document handling systems within enterprise environments.