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RollerApplication · Apache

CVE-2018-17198

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-05-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.1.2 or later.
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
Server-side Request Forgery (SSRF) and File Enumeration vulnerability in Apache Roller 5.2.1, 5.2.0 and earlier unsupported versions relies on Java SAX Parser to implement its XML-RPC interface and by default that parser supports external entities in XML DOCTYPE, which opens Roller up to SSRF / File Enumeration vulnerability. Note that this vulnerability exists even if Roller XML-RPC interface is disable via the Roller web admin UI. Mitigation: There are a couple of ways you can fix this vulnerability: 1) Upgrade to the latest version of Roller, which is now 5.2.2 2) Or, edit the Roller web.xml file and comment out the XML-RPC Servlet mapping as shown below: <!-- <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>XmlRpcServlet</servlet-name> <url-pattern>/roller-services/xmlrpc</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> -->

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

Apache Roller versions 5.2.1 and earlier contain an SSRF and file enumeration vulnerability in its XML-RPC interface. The Java SAX Parser used for XML-RPC supports external entities in XML DOCTYPE, allowing attackers to make the server perform arbitrary HTTP requests or read local files. The vulnerability persists even when XML-RPC is disabled through the admin UI.

MitigationUpgrade to Apache Roller 5.2.2 or disable the XML-RPC servlet by commenting out the servlet-mapping in web.xml.

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
RollerApplication
Affected:<= 5.1.2= 5.2.0= 5.2.1

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 Apache Roller version
    Log into the Roller admin UI and navigate to the About page, or inspect the roller-war.jar/roller.jar file in the deployed WEB-INF/lib directory for the version manifest
    Affected if Version is 5.2.1, 5.2.0, 5.1.2, or any earlier version
  2. Locate web.xml configuration file
    Find the web.xml file in the deployed application's WEB-INF directory (typically at /WEB-INF/web.xml)
    Affected if File exists and contains servlet mappings for the XML-RPC interface
  3. Verify XML-RPC servlet mapping status
    Inspect the web.xml file for a servlet-mapping with url-pattern matching /roller-xmlrpc/* or /xmlrpc/*, and check whether it is commented out or active
    Affected if The XML-RPC servlet-mapping is present and not commented out (active)
  4. Confirm XML-RPC endpoint accessibility
    Send an HTTP request to the XML-RPC endpoint (e.g., GET /roller-xmlrpc/ or /xmlrpc/) and observe if the server responds
    Affected if The endpoint returns any response (even an error) indicating the servlet is active

A user is affected if running Apache Roller version 5.2.1, 5.2.0, 5.1.2 or earlier AND the XML-RPC servlet-mapping in web.xml is active (not commented out), regardless of admin UI settings.

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 a release after 5.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Apache Roller 5.2.2 or disable the XML-RPC servlet by commenting out the servlet-mapping in web.xml.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.2.2

  1. Download Apache Roller version 5.2.2 from the official Apache Roller distribution site (https://roller.apache.org/)
  2. Stop the currently running Apache Roller application
  3. Create a complete backup of the current Roller installation directory and database
  4. Extract and deploy Apache Roller 5.2.2 files to replace the existing installation
  5. Verify that the XML-RPC Servlet mapping in the new web.xml is either removed or remains commented out: <!-- <servlet-mapping> <servlet-name>XmlRpcServlet</servlet-name> <url-pattern>/roller-services/xmlrpc</url-pattern> </servlet-mapping> -->
  6. Start the Roller application and verify it runs correctly
  7. Test that the application functions normally after the upgrade
Caveat As a minor version upgrade within the 5.x series, this should be low-risk; however, standard upgrade precautions apply (backup data, test in staging first)

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

Fix this in Roller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2018-17198 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