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Play FrameworkApplication · Lightbend

CVE-2014-3630

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability in the Java XML processing functionality in Play before 2.2.6 and 2.3.x before 2.3.5 might allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files, cause a denial of service, or have unspecified other impact via crafted XML data.

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

This is an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in the Play framework's Java XML processing functionality. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject malicious XML containing external entity references, enabling file system access, denial of service, or other impacts through crafted XML data.

MitigationUpgrade Play framework to version 2.2.6 or 2.3.5 or later. Alternatively, disable external entity processing in XML parsers and validate/sanitize XML input before processing.

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
Play FrameworkApplication
Affected:= 2.2.0= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.3.0= 2.3.1= 2.3.2= 2.3.3= 2.3.4
Play FrameworkApplication
Affected:= 2.2.0= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.2.3= 2.2.4= 2.2.5

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 Play framework version
    Check the build configuration file (build.sbt or build.gradle) for the play or play-json dependency version. Alternatively, examine the play-core or play_*.jar file in the lib directory and note its version.
    Affected if The installed version matches 2.2.0 through 2.2.5 (Playframework) or 2.2.0 through 2.3.4 (Lightbend)
  2. Locate XML processing code
    Search source code for imports of javax.xml.parsers, org.xml.sax, javax.xml.stream, or usage of classes like DocumentBuilder, SAXParser, XMLStreamReader. Also review controllers and endpoints that accept XML payloads.
    Affected if The application processes XML data from external sources (request bodies, file uploads, API inputs)
  3. Inspect XML parser configuration
    Review code that creates XML parsers (DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance(), SAXParserFactory.newInstance(), XMLStreamReaderFactory). Check if external entity processing is explicitly disabled via properties such as DTD, XInclude, and external DTD declarations.
    Affected if The XML parser is created with default configuration and external entity processing is not explicitly disabled (no setFeature or setProperty calls to disable external entities)
  4. Identify vulnerable XML endpoints
    Review controller routes and methods that accept XML content types (application/xml, text/xml) via request body parsers. Check if XML input validation or sanitization is performed before parsing.
    Affected if The application accepts untrusted XML input through HTTP endpoints without validation or disabling external entities

You are affected if you run an affected Play framework version (2.2.0-2.2.5 for Playframework or 2.2.0-2.3.4 for Lightbend) AND your application processes untrusted XML input with a parser that has external entity processing enabled by default.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Play framework to version 2.2.6 or 2.3.5 or later. Alternatively, disable external entity processing in XML parsers and validate/sanitize XML input before processing.

Recommended fix High confidence

Play Framework 2.2.6 or 2.3.5 (whichever branch you are on)

  1. 1. Identify the current Play Framework version in your project by checking build.sbt or build.gradle for the play or play-json version
  2. 2. If using Play 2.2.x branch, upgrade to version 2.2.6 or later
  3. 3. If using Play 2.3.x branch, upgrade to version 2.3.5 or later
  4. 4. Update the version in your build configuration file (build.sbt or Build.scala)
  5. 5. Run your build tool (sbt or gradle) to resolve the new dependencies
  6. 6. Rebuild and test your application to ensure compatibility

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Play Framework Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,400
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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-2014-3630 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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