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Spring FrameworkFramework / library · VMware

CVE-2014-0225

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-05-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
When processing user provided XML documents, the Spring Framework 4.0.0 to 4.0.4, 3.0.0 to 3.2.8, and possibly earlier unsupported versions did not disable by default the resolution of URI references in a DTD declaration. This enabled an XXE attack.

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

Spring Framework versions 3.0.0-3.2.8 and 4.0.0-4.0.4 did not disable XML external entity (XXE) resolution by default when processing user-supplied XML documents. The framework's XML parsers allowed URI references in DTD declarations, enabling attackers to inject malicious XML with external entity references to read local files, perform SSRF, or cause denial of service.

MitigationConfigure XML parsers to disable DTD processing, external entities, and external DTDs. Update to a patched Spring version or explicitly set parser security features via features like DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL and PROHIBIT_EXTERNAL_ENTITY_REFERENCES.

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:= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3= 3.0.4= 3.0.5= 3.0.6= 3.0.7= 3.1.0= 3.1.1= 3.1.2= 3.1.3= 3.1.4
Spring FrameworkFramework / library
Affected:= 3.0.0= 3.1.0= 3.2.0= 4.0.0

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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
    Check your project dependencies (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or JAR manifest) for the spring-core or spring-beans version number
    Affected if Version is 3.0.0-3.2.8 or 4.0.0-4.0.4
  2. Determine if Spring XML processing is used
    Search code for imports or usage of Spring XML handling classes such as org.springframework.oxm.jaxb.Jaxb2Marshaller, org.springframework.http.converter.xml.SourceHttpMessageConverter, or Spring MVC XML-based request handlers
    Affected if The application processes XML using Spring's XML conversion or marshalling features
  3. Verify XML parser configuration
    Inspect XML parser bean configurations in Spring context files (applicationContext.xml, spring-servlet.xml) or @Bean methods that define XmlMapper, JAXB, or other XML transformers
    Affected if XXE-protecting features are not explicitly set (DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL, XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, or external entity disabled)
  4. Check for explicit XXE protection
    Search codebase for security configuration on XML parsers such as setting 'SUPPORT_DTD' to false, 'PROHIBIT_EXTERNAL_ENTITY_REFERENCES' to true, or disabling DTD processing entirely
    Affected if No explicit XXE protection is found in parser configuration

You are affected if you run Spring Framework 3.0.0-3.2.8 or 4.0.0-4.0.4 AND your application processes user-supplied XML documents using Spring's XML features without explicit external entity protection configured on the parsers.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Configure XML parsers to disable DTD processing, external entities, and external DTDs. Update to a patched Spring version or explicitly set parser security features via features like DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL and PROHIBIT_EXTERNAL_ENTITY_REFERENCES.

Fix this in Spring Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2014-0225 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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