Operations AgentApplication · Microfocus

CVE-2019-17085

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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
XXE attack vulnerability on Micro Focus Operations Agent, affected version 12.0, 12.01, 12.02, 12.03, 12.04, 12.05, 12.06, 12.10, 12.11. The vulnerability could be exploited to do an XXE attack on Operations Agent.

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 · moderate confidence

This is an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in Micro Focus Operations Agent. The application parses XML input without properly disabling external entity processing, allowing an authenticated attacker to inject malicious XML to access internal files, perform server-side request forgery (SSRF), or cause denial of service.

MitigationDisable external entity processing in XML parsers used by the Operations Agent application and apply vendor-provided security patches when available.

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
Operations AgentApplication
Affected:= 12.0= 12.01= 12.02= 12.03= 12.04= 12.05= 12.06= 12.10= 12.11

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Verify Operations Agent is installed
    Locate the Micro Focus Operations Agent installation directory or check system services for 'Operations Agent' or related processes (such as ovbb, ovconfd, ovcd).
    Affected if The product is not present on the system.
  2. Determine the installed version
    Check the Operations Agent version information, typically found in the installation directory, a version file, or via the product's command-line version flag (for example, 'ovversion' or similar if available). Compare your version to the affected list: 12.0, 12.01, 12.02, 12.03, 12.04, 12.05, 12.06, 12.10, 12.11.
    Affected if The installed version matches one of these exact versions.
  3. Identify XML input entry points
    Locate configuration files, web interfaces, or API endpoints that accept XML input for the Operations Agent. Review product documentation for features that process XML data such as configuration imports, data ingestion APIs, or reporting tools.
    Affected if XML parsing functionality exists and is exposed for authenticated user input.
  4. Confirm authentication is in use
    Check whether the Operations Agent requires authentication for its management interface, API, or XML processing endpoints. Review authentication settings in configuration files or the admin console.
    Affected if Authentication is enabled (the attacker must be authenticated to exploit this, so unauthenticated access alone is not sufficient for exploitation).

The environment is affected if Micro Focus Operations Agent is installed with a version matching 12.0 through 12.11 AND the XML parsing interface is accessible to authenticated users.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Disable external entity processing in XML parsers used by the Operations Agent application and apply vendor-provided security patches when available.

Fix this in Operations Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,680.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-17085 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-17085 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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