CVE-2019-3774
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 · uneditedSpring Batch versions 3.0.9, 4.0.1, 4.1.0, and older unsupported versions, were susceptible to XML External Entity Injection (XXE) when receiving XML data from untrusted sources.
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 confidenceSpring Batch versions 3.0.9, 4.0.1, 4.1.0, and older unsupported versions contain an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability when processing XML data from untrusted sources. The application's XML parser is configured to process external entities, allowing attackers to potentially read local files or perform Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks via malicious XML input.
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<= 3.0.9>= 4.0.0, <= 4.0.1= 4.1.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Spring Batch versionInspect your project's dependency management file (pom.xml or build.gradle) for the spring-batch-core dependency version, or check the spring-batch-core-*.jar MANIFEST.MF file in your deployed applicationAffected if The version is 3.0.9 or earlier, 4.0.1 or earlier, or exactly 4.1.0
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Determine if XML job data is processedReview your Spring Batch job configurations (XML, Java, or annotations) to see if any ItemReader implementations parse XML input such as StaxEventItemReader, StaxOfflineEventItemReader, or custom XML readersAffected if Your batch jobs read XML data from external or untrusted sources such as uploaded files, remote URLs, or user-supplied input
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Inspect XML parser configurationSearch your codebase for XML parser setup code (XMLInputFactory, DocumentBuilder, SAXParser) and check whether features like XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL, or external entity disabling are explicitly configuredAffected if The XML parser is created without disabling external entities (DOCTYPE declarations are allowed or no security feature is set)
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Check for default parser behaviorIf using StaxEventItemReader or similar built-in readers, verify whether any custom parser factory is passed; without explicit configuration, the default parser may allow external entitiesAffected if No custom XMLInputFactory or parser configuration is provided, relying on Java's default XXE-vulnerable parser settings
You are affected if your Spring Batch version falls within the vulnerable range AND your application processes XML from untrusted sources with a parser that has not explicitly disabled external entity processing.
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.
dbcve · scopedDisable XML external entity processing in all XML parsers used by Spring Batch applications by setting features like 'DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL' or configuring the parser to reject external entities. Upgrade to Spring Batch 3.0.10, 4.1.1, or later versions which contain the security fix.
Spring Batch 3.0.10+ or Spring Batch 4.0.2+ or Spring Batch 4.1.1+ (recommended: latest 4.3.x)
- 1. Identify all Spring Batch applications in your environment that process XML data from external/untrusted sources
- 2. Determine the current Spring Batch version by checking your pom.xml, build.gradle, or application dependencies
- 3. For Spring Batch 3.0.x versions (<=3.0.9): upgrade to Spring Batch 3.0.10 or later
- 4. For Spring Batch 4.0.x versions (<=4.0.1): upgrade to Spring Batch 4.0.2 or later
- 5. For Spring Batch 4.1.0: upgrade to Spring Batch 4.1.1 or later
- 6. Recommended: upgrade to the latest stable Spring Batch 4.x release (e.g., 4.3.x) for complete security coverage
- 7. Rebuild and redeploy all affected applications
- 8. Test XML processing functionality to ensure the upgrade does not break existing functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-3774 — 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- pivotal.io
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- lists.apache.org
- nvd.nist.gov
Practitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-3774 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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