CVE-2024-45072 in WebSphere Application Server
Summary
by MITRE • 10/16/2024
IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5 and 9.0 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A privileged user could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/18/2024
IBM WebSphere Application Server versions 8.5 and 9.0 contain a critical XML External Entity Injection vulnerability that allows attackers to manipulate XML processing behavior through maliciously crafted input. This weakness enables unauthorized access to internal system resources and sensitive data exposure. The vulnerability resides in the server's XML parsing mechanisms where external entity references are not properly validated or restricted. When the application processes XML data containing external entity declarations, it may inadvertently fetch and process resources from external servers or local file systems. This flaw specifically affects privileged users who can leverage the vulnerability to extract confidential information from the server environment or consume excessive memory resources through resource exhaustion attacks. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-611 which categorizes improper restriction of XML external entity references as a critical security weakness. From an operational perspective, this XXE vulnerability creates significant risk for organizations relying on WebSphere for enterprise applications, as it can lead to data breaches, service disruption, and potential system compromise. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to access internal network resources, retrieve system files, or perform denial of service attacks by consuming server memory through malicious XML entity expansion. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as the vulnerability can be chained with other exploits to escalate privileges or gain deeper access to the underlying infrastructure. Organizations should consider this vulnerability in their threat modeling and incident response planning, as it aligns with ATT&CK technique T1590 for reconnaissance activities and T1071 for application layer protocol usage. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of implementing proper XML parsing configurations and input validation controls to prevent unauthorized external resource access. Security teams must ensure that XML parsers are configured to disable external entity resolution and that all XML input is properly sanitized before processing. Organizations should also implement network segmentation and monitoring controls to detect unusual XML processing patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts. The flaw underscores the necessity of regular security updates and vulnerability management processes, particularly for legacy application server installations that may not receive timely patches from vendors. Proper configuration management and security hardening practices should be enforced to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other components of the application stack. This vulnerability represents a significant risk to enterprise security postures and requires immediate attention from security operations teams to assess exposure and implement appropriate mitigations.