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Jboss Enterprise Application PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2017-7503

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-05-18
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
It was found that the Red Hat JBoss EAP 7.0.5 implementation of javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory is vulnerable to XXE. An attacker could use this flaw to launch DoS or SSRF attacks, or read files from the server where EAP is deployed.

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

JBoss EAP 7.0.5 contains a vulnerable implementation of javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory that fails to disable XML external entity (XXE) processing. Attackers can exploit this by submitting malicious XML payloads to trigger DoS, perform SSRF attacks against internal systems, or read sensitive files from the server filesystem.

MitigationUpgrade JBoss EAP to a patched version or disable external entity processing in the TransformerFactory by configuring appropriate security properties (e.g., setAttribute for XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA).

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 Enterprise Application PlatformApplication
Affected:= 7.0.5

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 installed JBoss EAP version
    Check the JBoss installation directory for version files, or run the jboss-cli.sh --version command, or inspect the product.conf file in the bin folder
    Affected if The installed version is JBoss EAP 7.0.5 exactly
  2. Locate TransformerFactory usage in deployed applications
    Search deployed WAR or EAR files for javax.xml.transform.TransformerFactory usage, or inspect application logs and code for XML transformation operations
    Affected if Applications perform XML transformations using TransformerFactory without explicit XXE protection
  3. Check for XXE protection configuration in TransformerFactory instantiation
    Review application source code and configuration files for TransformerFactory.newInstance() calls that set security attributes: setAttribute(XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD, '') and setAttribute(XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA, '')
    Affected if The TransformerFactory instances do not have ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA attributes set to restrict external entity access
  4. Inspect XML parser configurations across the application
    Check web.xml and jboss-web.xml deployment descriptors for custom XML parser configurations, and review any javax.xml.stream.XMLInputFactory or DocumentBuilderFactory security settings
    Affected if XML parsers throughout the application are not configured to disable external entity processing

You are affected if running JBoss EAP 7.0.5 AND applications use TransformerFactory for XML processing without explicit XXE protection configured.

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 JBoss EAP to a patched version or disable external entity processing in the TransformerFactory by configuring appropriate security properties (e.g., setAttribute for XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA).

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

JBoss EAP 7.0.6 or later (recommended: latest 7.0.x, 7.1.x, or 7.2.x)

  1. 1. Backup your current JBoss EAP configuration and application data
  2. 2. Download the fixed JBoss EAP version (7.0.6 or later in the 7.0.x series, or upgrade to 7.1.x/7.2.x for the latest features and security patches)
  3. 3. Stop the JBoss EAP 7.0.5 server instance
  4. 4. Install the new version following Red Hat's standard upgrade procedures
  5. 5. Restore your configuration from the backup (or migrate configuration to new format if required for major version upgrades)
  6. 6. Start the upgraded JBoss EAP server
  7. 7. Verify all applications deploy and function correctly
  8. 8. Test that the XXE vulnerability is mitigated by attempting XML parsing with external entities (should be blocked)
Caveat Minor version upgrades within 7.0.x should maintain configuration compatibility; major version upgrades to 7.1.x or 7.2.x may require configuration changes - review Red Hat migration guides

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

Fix this in Jboss Enterprise Application Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • 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-2017-7503 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data