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WiremockApplication

CVE-2018-9116

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.16.0 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
An XXE vulnerability within WireMock before 2.16.0 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to access local files and internal resources and potentially cause a Denial of Service.

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

An XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in WireMock versions prior to 2.16.0 allows remote unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious XML that references external entities, enabling unauthorized access to local files and internal network resources, plus potential denial of service through resource exhaustion.

MitigationUpgrade WireMock to version 2.16.0 or later, which contains the fix for the XXE vulnerability. If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable external entity resolution in XML parsers used by the application.

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
WiremockApplication
Affected:< 2.16.0

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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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. Determine the installed WireMock version
    Run 'java -jar wiremock-standalone-*.jar --version' or check the JAR file name, or inspect the application's dependency management to find the wiremock version
    Affected if The version is below 2.16.0 (e.g., 2.15.0, 2.14.0, earlier releases)
  2. Identify if XML request body matching is in use
    Examine WireMock stub mappings (JSON files in __files/mappings or the /mappings admin endpoint) for requests that specify 'bodyPatterns' with 'equalToXml' or 'matchesXPath'
    Affected if Stubs exist that perform XML-based matching on incoming request bodies, as this is the attack surface for XXE injection
  3. Check if XML response templates are configured
    Review stub response definitions for usage of 'body' with XML content or 'transformers' that process XML data
    Affected if WireMock is configured to serve or transform XML responses, as the vulnerability can be triggered during XML parsing of requests or templates
  4. Verify network exposure of the WireMock admin API
    Check the binding address and port configuration (--bind-address, --port, --admin-api-prefix options or equivalent in code) and determine if the admin endpoints are accessible from untrusted networks
    Affected if The WireMock admin API (default port 8080 or 8443) is exposed to unauthenticated or untrusted network segments, allowing remote attackers to send malicious XML payloads

You are affected if running a WireMock version below 2.16.0 AND the WireMock admin API or stub matching functionality processes XML input from untrusted sources.

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 2.16.0 or later
Fixed in 2.16.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade WireMock to version 2.16.0 or later, which contains the fix for the XXE vulnerability. If upgrade is not immediately possible, disable external entity resolution in XML parsers used by the application.

Recommended fix High confidence

WireMock 2.16.0 or later

  1. Identify your current WireMock deployment method (e.g., standalone JAR, Maven dependency, Docker container)
  2. For Maven-based projects: Update the wiremock dependency version in your pom.xml to 2.16.0 or later
  3. For standalone JAR: Download wiremock-2.16.0-standalone.jar from the official WireMock releases and replace the existing JAR
  4. For Docker: Update your Docker image tag to use wiremock version 2.16.0 or later (e.g., wiremock:2.16.0)
  5. Restart the WireMock service to apply the update
  6. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the WireMock version endpoint or logs

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

Fix this in Wiremock Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2018-9116 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