dbcve.org
Spring FrameworkFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2014-0054

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-04-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.2.7 or later.
See remediation →
77/100
Remediation priority · High
High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter in Spring MVC in Spring Framework before 3.2.8 and 4.0.0 before 4.0.2 does not disable external entity resolution, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files, cause a denial of service, and conduct CSRF attacks via crafted XML, aka an XML External Entity (XXE) issue. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2013-4152, CVE-2013-7315, and CVE-2013-6429.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter in Spring Framework versions before 3.2.8 and 4.0.2 does not disable XML external entity (XXE) resolution, allowing attackers to inject malicious XML containing external entity references to read arbitrary files from the server, cause denial of service, or conduct CSRF attacks. This is an incomplete fix for multiple prior XXE vulnerabilities in the same component.

MitigationUpgrade Spring Framework to version 3.2.8 or later, or 4.0.2 or later. Alternatively, explicitly disable external entity resolution in the JAXB message converter configuration.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:<= 3.2.7= 3.0.6= 3.0.7= 3.1.0= 3.1.1= 3.1.2= 3.1.3= 3.1.4= 3.2.0= 3.2.1= 3.2.2= 3.2.3
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:= 3.0.0= 3.0.0.m1= 3.0.0.m2= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3= 3.0.4= 3.0.5= 3.2.5= 3.2.6= 4.0.0= 4.0.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Spring Framework version
    Locate the spring-core JAR file in your application lib or dependency management (pom.xml, build.gradle) and read the version attribute. Common paths: WEB-INF/lib/, Maven dependencies, or classpath.
    Affected if The version is 3.2.7 or lower, or 4.0.1 or lower, matching the affected version list.
  2. Confirm Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter is in use
    Search your codebase for any Java configuration or XML bean definitions that instantiate Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter, or look for 'jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter' in Spring bean configuration files.
    Affected if The converter class is explicitly declared as a bean in your Spring configuration.
  3. Check XML message converter configuration for XXE protection
    If Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter is configured, examine the bean definition for any explicit disabling of external entities. Look for property settings such as 'supportDtd' set to false, or a custom XMLTransformerFactory with external entity processing disabled.
    Affected if The converter is used and no explicit XXE protection (DTD disabled or entity resolver configured) is found in the bean definition.
  4. Inspect XML parser settings across the application
    Search for any XML parser (DocumentBuilder, SAXParser, XMLReader) instantiations that may be used alongside or instead of the Spring converter. Check for feature flags like 'http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl' or 'external-general-entities' being explicitly set.
    Affected if XML parsers are used without disabling external entity processing.

Your environment is affected if you run a Spring Framework version 3.2.7 or lower, or 4.0.1 or lower, AND use Jaxb2RootElementHttpMessageConverter without explicit disabling of external entity resolution in its configuration.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.2.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Spring Framework to version 3.2.8 or later, or 4.0.2 or later. Alternatively, explicitly disable external entity resolution in the JAXB message converter configuration.

Fix this in Spring Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-0054 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0054 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data