CVE-2018-2401
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 · uneditedSAP Business Process Automation (BPA) By Redwood does not sufficiently validate an XML document accepted from an untrusted source resulting in an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability.
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 confidenceSAP Business Process Automation (BPA) By Redwood does not properly validate XML documents received from untrusted sources, allowing attackers to inject malicious XML with external entity references. This XXE vulnerability could enable attackers to read sensitive files on the server, perform server-side request forgery (SSRF), or cause denial of service.
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= 9.00CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Confirm SAP BPA installation and versionCheck the installed version of Redwood Sap Business Process Automation. Look in the installation directory for version information, or query the system for installed software version (e.g., check installation logs, registry, or use system inventory tools).Affected if The installed version is exactly 9.00 (this specific version is affected)
-
Identify XML processing functionalityAudit the SAP BPA configuration to determine if the application accepts or processes XML documents. Look for XML import features, document processing jobs, or integration endpoints that handle XML input.Affected if XML document processing from external or untrusted sources is enabled or configured
-
Review XML parser configurationExamine the XML parser settings within the SAP BPA configuration files. Check for parser configuration that allows external entity processing or DTD processing. Look for XML-related configuration files in the installation directory.Affected if External entity processing or DTD processing is not explicitly disabled in the XML parser settings
-
Check for exposed XML input pointsIdentify network endpoints, APIs, or file import locations where untrusted XML documents could be submitted to the SAP BPA system. Review integration configurations and exposed services.Affected if The system accepts XML input from untrusted network sources without strict validation
You are affected if you have version 9.00 of Redwood SAP Business Process Automation and the system processes XML documents from untrusted or external sources with external entity processing enabled in the parser configuration.
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 dataDisable external entity processing in the XML parser configuration and implement strict input validation for all XML documents received from untrusted sources.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-2401 — 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-2018-2401 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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