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SphinxApplication · Eclipse

CVE-2022-2838

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.13.1 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
In Eclipse Sphinx™ before version 0.13.1, Apache Xerces XML Parser was used without disabling processing of referenced external entities allowing the injection of arbitrary definitions which is able to access local files and expose their contents via HTTP requests.

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

This is an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in Eclipse Sphinx before version 0.13.1. The Apache Xerces XML Parser is configured to process referenced external entities, allowing attackers to inject malicious XML that can read local files and trigger HTTP requests to internal systems.

MitigationDisable external entity processing and DTD processing in the Apache Xerces XML Parser configuration. Update to version 0.13.1 or later if 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
SphinxApplication
Affected:>= 0.7.0, < 0.13.1

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

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 Eclipse Sphinx version
    Run 'pip show sphinx' or check the package version in your dependency file (requirements.txt, Pipfile.lock, or pyproject.toml)
    Affected if Version is 0.7.0 or higher but lower than 0.13.1
  2. Identify XML file processing
    Search your Sphinx project for XML files (look for .xml extensions) and review any custom directives or extensions that parse XML content
    Affected if Your Sphinx project processes or includes XML files that could be supplied by external contributors
  3. Check Xerces parser configuration
    Review any Java or Python code that initializes the Apache Xerces XML parser and examine the parser feature settings for external entity and DTD processing
    Affected if The Xerces parser is configured with default settings that enable external entity processing (features for 'external-general-entities', 'external-parameter-entities', or 'dtd' are not explicitly disabled)
  4. Audit custom extensions
    Examine any third-party or custom Sphinx extensions in your 'ext' directory for XML parsing operations using xerces or lxml
    Affected if Custom extensions contain XML parsing logic that processes untrusted XML input without disabling external entities

Your environment is affected if you run Eclipse Sphinx version 0.7.0 through 0.13.0 and process untrusted XML files with the default Xerces parser configuration that allows external entity processing.

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 0.13.1 or later
Fixed in 0.13.1
Interim mitigation

Disable external entity processing and DTD processing in the Apache Xerces XML Parser configuration. Update to version 0.13.1 or later if available.

Recommended fix High confidence

0.13.1

  1. 1. Back up your current Sphinx project and configuration files.
  2. 2. Identify your build system (Maven, Gradle, or direct JAR replacement).
  3. 3. Update the Eclipse Sphinx dependency version to 0.13.1 in your project's dependency management (pom.xml, build.gradle, or equivalent).
  4. 4. If using Maven, run 'mvn clean compile' or 'mvn clean package' to download and verify the new dependency.
  5. 5. If using direct JAR files, replace the old org.eclipse.sphinx.* JARs with version 0.13.1 JARs from the Eclipse Maven repository or Eclipse Sphinx downloads.
  6. 6. Rebuild your project and test that Sphinx functionality works correctly with the new version.
  7. 7. Verify that XML parsing no longer processes external entities by testing with a sample XXE payload if you have security testing in place.
Caveat Review Eclipse Sphinx 0.13.1 release notes for any breaking changes or deprecations before upgrading

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

Fix this in Sphinx Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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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-2022-2838 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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