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Jboss MiddlewareApplication · Redhat

CVE-2016-3674

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-05-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.4.9 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Multiple XML external entity (XXE) vulnerabilities in the (1) Dom4JDriver, (2) DomDriver, (3) JDomDriver, (4) JDom2Driver, (5) SjsxpDriver, (6) StandardStaxDriver, and (7) WstxDriver drivers in XStream before 1.4.9 allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted XML document.

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

Multiple XML external entity (XXE) vulnerabilities in seven XStream XML drivers (Dom4jDriver, DomDriver, JDomDriver, JDom2Driver, SjsxpDriver, StandardStaxDriver, and WstxDriver) allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files from the server by submitting crafted XML documents containing external entity references.

MitigationUpgrade XStream to version 1.4.9 or later, which disables external entity processing by default; verify that legitimate XML processing still functions correctly after the upgrade.

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
Jboss MiddlewareApplication
Affected:= 1
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 22= 23
XstreamApplication
Affected:< 1.4.9

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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 XStream installation and version
    Locate the XStream library in your application (commonly in lib/, WEB-INF/lib/, or as a Maven/Gradle dependency) and determine the exact version number from the jar filename, pom.xml, or build.gradle
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.4.9 (for example, 1.4.8, 1.4.7, 1.4.6, etc.)
  2. Determine which XStream XML driver is in use
    Search your codebase for instantiation of XStream with a specific driver, such as 'new XStream(new Dom4jDriver())', 'new XStream(new DomDriver())', 'new XStream(new JDomDriver())', 'new XStream(new JDom2Driver())', 'new XStream(new SjsxpDriver())', 'new XStream(new StandardStaxDriver())', or 'new XStream(new WstxDriver())'
    Affected if Any of these seven drivers (Dom4jDriver, DomDriver, JDomDriver, JDom2Driver, SjsxpDriver, StandardStaxDriver, or WstxDriver) are explicitly instantiated in your code
  3. Check for XML input processing that uses untrusted sources
    Review code paths where XStream.fromXML() or similar deserialization methods are called, particularly with input from HTTP requests, file uploads, or external systems
    Affected if XStream deserialization accepts XML from untrusted or network sources without prior sanitization
  4. Inspect XStream security framework configuration
    Look for setup code that configures XStream's security framework, such as calls to XStream.setupDefaultSecurity() or custom Permission implementations
    Affected if No security framework is configured AND the XStream version is below 1.4.9 AND an affected driver is in use

You are affected if XStream version is below 1.4.9 AND your application uses one of the seven vulnerable XML drivers (Dom4jDriver, DomDriver, JDomDriver, JDom2Driver, SjsxpDriver, StandardStaxDriver, or WstxDriver) to process XML from untrusted sources.

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 1.4.9 or later
Fixed in 1.4.9
Interim mitigation

Upgrade XStream to version 1.4.9 or later, which disables external entity processing by default; verify that legitimate XML processing still functions correctly after the upgrade.

Fix this in Jboss Middleware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2016-3674 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
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