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NifiApplication · Apache

CVE-2018-1309

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.6.0 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
Apache NiFi External XML Entity issue in SplitXML processor. Malicious XML content could cause information disclosure or remote code execution. The fix to disable external general entity parsing and disallow doctype declarations was applied on the Apache NiFi 1.6.0 release. Users running a prior 1.x release should upgrade to the appropriate release.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-611

An XML parser processes external entity references inside untrusted documents, letting an attacker read local files, reach internal systems, or exhaust resources. It's a common trap in anything that accepts XML. The fix is to disable external entities and DTD processing in the parser.

General guidance for the xml external entity (xxe) class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
NifiApplication
Affected:< 1.6.0

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

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 1.6.0 or later
Fixed in 1.6.0
Vendor patch nifi.apache.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

1.6.0 or later stable 1.x release

  1. 1. Back up your existing NiFi installation directory, flow configuration (flow.xml.gz), and any custom processors or scripts
  2. 2. Download Apache NiFi 1.6.0 or a later stable 1.x release from the official Apache NiFi downloads page (nifi.apache.org)
  3. 3. Stop the running NiFi service cleanly to ensure all state is persisted
  4. 4. Replace the existing NiFi installation with the new version, preserving your configuration files and authorizations
  5. 5. Review the NiFi release notes for any required migration steps between your current version and 1.6.0
  6. 6. Start the upgraded NiFi service and verify the SplitXML processor functions correctly
  7. 7. Validate that XML processing no longer permits external entity references
Caveat Review release notes for migration steps; major NiFi upgrades may require flow configuration updates

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,550. Get the upgrade done

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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-2018-1309 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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