CVE-2019-4419
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 · uneditedIBM Intelligent Operations Center V5.1.0 through V5.2.0 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources. IBM X-Force ID: 162737.
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 confidenceIBM Intelligent Operations Center versions 5.1.0 through 5.2.0 contains an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability when processing XML data. A remote attacker can exploit this to expose sensitive information from the system or cause memory resource exhaustion through malicious XML payloads.
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>= 5.1.0, <= 5.2.0>= 5.1.0, <= 5.1.0.6>= 5.1.0, <= 5.2.1.1CVSS 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
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L
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 the installed product and versionLocate the IBM Intelligent Operations Center installation directory and check the version manifest or about dialog. Common locations include the installation root directory with version.info or about.xml files. For IBM Intelligent Operations Center For Emergency Management or Water Operations For Waternamics, check their respective installation directories.Affected if The installed version falls within 5.1.0 to 5.2.0 for IOC, 5.1.0 to 5.1.0.6 for IOC Emergency Management, or 5.1.0 to 5.2.1.1 for Water Operations For Waternamics
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Determine if XML processing services are exposedReview the application configuration files (such as web.xml, server.xml, or custom service descriptors) to identify if XML intake endpoints, web services, or data import features that accept XML input are enabled and accessible.Affected if XML processing endpoints or services that accept external XML input are enabled and reachable by potential attackers
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Locate the XML parser configurationExamine the application server configuration (typically in the conf directory of the application server) for XML parser settings. Look for parser configuration files or Java XML processing libraries (such as DocumentBuilderFactory, SAXParserFactory) configurations.Affected if The XML parser is configured to allow external entity processing (DTD processing enabled) or does not have XXE protections explicitly disabled
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Check for XML data intake pointsSearch for any user-facing or API-facing features that accept XML uploads, XML data submissions, or process XML from external sources. Review the application's data import or integration modules.Affected if The system accepts XML data from untrusted sources without strict input validation or XML sanitization
A user is affected if their installed product version falls within the affected version ranges AND the system exposes XML processing functionality to external or untrusted input sources.
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 dataConfigure the XML parser to disable external entity processing and implement strict input validation for all XML data to prevent XXE attacks.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-4419 — 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-2019-4419 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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