#VU18784 XML External Entity injection in c3p0 - CVE-2018-20433

Vulnerability identifier: #VU18784

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 2.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-20433

CWE-ID: CWE-611

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
c3p0
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: mchange.com

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to gain access to sensitive information.

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient validation of user-supplied XML input within the extractXmlConfigFromInputStream() method in com/mchange/v2/c3p0/cfg/C3P0ConfigXmlUtils.java file during initialization. A remote attacker can pass a specially crafted XML code to the affected application and view contents of arbitrary files on the system or initiate requests to external systems.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability may allow an attacker to view contents of arbitrary file on the server or perform network scanning of internal and external infrastructure.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

c3p0: 0.9.5.2

---

External links
https://github.com/zhutougg/c3p0/commit/2eb0ea97f745740b18dd45e4a909112d4685f87b
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00021.html
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/BFIVX6HOVNLAM7W3SUAMHYRNLCVQSAWR/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MQ47OFV57Y2DAHMGA5H3JOL4WHRWRFN4/

---

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.