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FessApplication · Codelibs

CVE-2018-1000822

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-12-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
codelibs fess version before commit faa265b contains a XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in GSA XML file parser that can result in Disclosure of confidential data, denial of service, SSRF, port scanning. This attack appear to be exploitable via specially crafted GSA XML files. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in after commit faa265b.

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

codelibs fess versions before commit faa265b contain an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in the GSA XML file parser. The parser processes XML files without disabling external entity resolution, allowing attackers to craft malicious XML that can read local files, perform SSRF, port scanning, or cause denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to a version after commit faa265b, or apply the fix by disabling external entity processing in the XML parser configuration (typically via setting XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA properties to empty strings in the DocumentBuilderFactory).

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
FessApplication
Affected:< 12.2.3

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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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. Check installed Fess version
    Locate the Fess installation and identify its version number (typically found in a version file, manifest, or startup logs). Compare this version against the affected range: versions before 12.2.3 are vulnerable.
    Affected if The installed version is below 12.2.3
  2. Identify GSA XML parser usage
    Locate the GSA XML file parser component in the Fess installation. This is typically invoked when Fess processes XML-based search result or configuration files.
    Affected if The GSA XML parser is actively used to process XML files in your environment
  3. Inspect XML parser configuration
    Examine the DocumentBuilderFactory or SAXParserFactory configuration code or configuration files used by the GSA XML parser. Check whether ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA properties are set to empty strings or properly restricted.
    Affected if The XML parser configuration does not explicitly disable external entity resolution (properties are not set or are set to allow external access)
  4. Verify XML processing behavior
    If direct code inspection is not possible, test XML processing by providing a crafted XML file with an external entity reference (such as <!DOCTYPE foo [<!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd">]>) to see if the parser resolves it.
    Affected if The parser resolves external entities, confirming the vulnerability is present

You are affected if Fess version is below 12.2.3 AND the GSA XML parser processes XML files without explicit disabling of external entity resolution in its configuration.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.2.3 or later
Fixed in 12.2.3
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a version after commit faa265b, or apply the fix by disabling external entity processing in the XML parser configuration (typically via setting XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA properties to empty strings in the DocumentBuilderFactory).

Recommended fix High confidence

12.2.3

  1. Upgrade Fess to version 12.2.3 or later as this version contains the fix for the XXE vulnerability
  2. After upgrading, verify the GSA XML file parser no longer processes external entities
  3. Test that specially crafted GSA XML files with XXE payloads are properly rejected

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

Fix this in Fess Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
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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-2018-1000822 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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