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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Netweaver Application Server JavaApplication · Sap

CVE-2016-9563

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-11-23
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
In the wild Remotely reachable 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
BC-BMT-BPM-DSK in SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5 allows remote authenticated users to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks via the sap.com~tc~bpem~him~uwlconn~provider~web/bpemuwlconn URI, aka SAP Security Note 2296909.

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 SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5 within the BC-BMT-BPM-DSK (Business Task Management) component. The vulnerability exists in the /bpemuwlconn URI and allows authenticated remote users to exploit insecure XML parsing to read internal files, perform SSRF, or cause denial of service. SAP Security Note 2296909 addresses this vulnerability.

MitigationApply SAP Security Note 2296909 which provides the vendor patch. Additionally, configure XML parsers to disable external entity processing as a defense-in-depth measure. Restrict access to the affected URI to only necessary authenticated users.

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
Netweaver Application Server JavaApplication
Affected:= 7.50

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA version
    Check the installed SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java version via the SAP NWA administration console (http://<host>:<port>/nwa) or by querying the SAP system profile parameters using transaction SM37 or the SAP MII version info page.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.50 (SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5)
  2. Verify BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component presence
    Check if the Business Task Management (BC-BMT-BPM-DSK) component is installed on the SAP NetWeaver system. This can be done via SAP LM structure in transaction SE84 or via the SAP Support Portal component usage matrix.
    Affected if The BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component is installed and active on the system
  3. Confirm /bpemuwlconn endpoint accessibility
    Test access to the /bpemuwlconn URI endpoint on the SAP server (http://<host>:<port>/bpemuwlconn). Attempt an HTTP GET request to determine if the endpoint responds.
    Affected if The /bpemuwlconn endpoint is reachable and responds to HTTP requests
  4. Check XML parser configuration for external entity processing
    Review the XML parser configuration for the BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component. Examine the server's XML processor settings to determine if external entity processing is enabled. This is typically found in the SAP Java XML parser configuration files or via the SAP NetWeaver Administrator under XML Parser settings.
    Affected if External entity processing is enabled in the XML parser configuration (XXE exploit requires this setting to be active)
  5. Verify authentication configuration for the endpoint
    Review the security configuration for the /bpemuwlconn endpoint in the SAP system to confirm authentication requirements. Check via transaction SICF or the SAP NetWeaver Administrator security settings.
    Affected if The endpoint accepts authenticated requests without additional restrictions on XML input

A system is affected if it runs SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA version 7.50 with the BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component installed, has the /bpemuwlconn endpoint accessible, and uses an XML parser configuration that permits external entity processing.

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

Apply SAP Security Note 2296909 which provides the vendor patch. Additionally, configure XML parsers to disable external entity processing as a defense-in-depth measure. Restrict access to the affected URI to only necessary authenticated users.

Fix this in Netweaver Application Server Java Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2016-9563 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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