CVE-2014-8890
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 · uneditedIBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty Profile 8.5.x before 8.5.5.4 allows remote attackers to gain privileges by leveraging the combination of a servlet's deployment descriptor security constraints and ServletSecurity annotations.
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 · moderate confidenceIBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty Profile 8.5.x before 8.5.5.4 has a privilege escalation vulnerability where the combination of servlet deployment descriptor security constraints (web.xml) and ServletSecurity annotations can be exploited to bypass intended security controls and gain elevated privileges.
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= 8.5.0.0= 8.5.0.1= 8.5.0.2= 8.5.5.0= 8.5.5.1= 8.5.5.2= 8.5.5.3CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check WebSphere Liberty Profile versionRun 'productInfo version' command from the bin directory of the Liberty installation, or inspect the manifests in the wlp/lib directoryAffected if Version is 8.5.0.0, 8.5.0.1, 8.5.0.2, 8.5.5.0, 8.5.5.1, 8.5.5.2, or 8.5.5.3 (versions before 8.5.5.4)
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Identify web.xml deployment descriptors with security constraintsSearch for web.xml files in deployed applications under the WEB-INF directory and inspect for <security-constraint> elementsAffected if The application contains web.xml with security constraints defined
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Identify ServletSecurity annotationsInspect servlet Java classes for @ServletSecurity annotations, typically found in the source code or compiled class files under WEB-INF/classesAffected if Any deployed servlets use @ServletSecurity annotations
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Determine if both mechanisms are used togetherCompare the security constraints in web.xml against the @ServletSecurity annotations in the corresponding servlet classes to identify conflicts or overlapping URL patternsAffected if The same servlet or URL pattern is protected by BOTH web.xml security constraints AND ServletSecurity annotations simultaneously
User is affected if running WebSphere Liberty Profile version 8.5.0.0 through 8.5.5.3 AND has applications that use conflicting or overlapping security constraints between web.xml deployment descriptors and ServletSecurity annotations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade IBM WebSphere Liberty Profile to version 8.5.5.4 or later, or review and remove conflicting security constraints from either the deployment descriptor or ServletSecurity annotations.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8890 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-8890 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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