CVE-2018-1607
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 · uneditedIBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager 5.0 through 5.02 and 6.0 through 6.0.6 is vulnerable to a XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 143797.
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 confidenceIBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager versions 5.0-5.02 and 6.0-6.0.6 is vulnerable to XML External Entity Injection (XXE). When processing XML data without proper sanitization, the application allows attackers to inject malicious XML with external entity references, potentially exposing sensitive server-side files or causing denial of service through memory exhaustion.
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>= 5.0, <= 5.0.2>= 6.0, <= 6.0.6CVSS 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
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm IBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager is installedCheck for the product in typical installation directories: Windows: C:\Program Files\IBM\Rational\ or Linux/Unix: /opt/IBM/ Rational/. Also check for running processes named 'relm' or check Windows Services for 'IBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager'.Affected if The product is installed and running on the system
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Determine the installed versionLocate the version information in the installation directory - typically in a version.txt, about.xml, or manifest file within the installation folder. Alternatively, access the web application About page if the admin console is accessible.Affected if The installed version falls within 5.0-5.0.2 or 6.0-6.0.6
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Identify XML import or upload featuresCheck the web application for functionalities that accept XML file uploads or parse XML data, such as: Import, Upload, Data Integration, or Configuration import features accessible to users.Affected if XML import or upload functionality is enabled and accessible to users or administrators
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Verify XML parser configuration for external entity processingIf accessible, examine the application's XML parser configuration files (such as parser-related XML files in the config directory) for settings related to external entity processing, DTD processing, or document type definitions.Affected if External entity processing or DTD processing is not explicitly disabled in the XML parser configuration
A user is affected if IBM Rational Engineering Lifecycle Manager versions 5.0-5.0.2 or 6.0-6.0.6 are installed, the application processes XML files through import or upload features, and the XML parser allows external entity references.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply vendor-provided patches for this vulnerability. If no patch is available, disable external entity processing in the application's XML parser configuration and implement strict XML input validation to prevent XXE attacks.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-1607 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-1607 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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