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XML External Entity (XXE)Weakness · CWE-611

CVE-2023-49234

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
65/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability was found in Stilog Visual Planning 8. It allows an authenticated attacker to access local server files and exfiltrate data to an external server.

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 Stilog Visual Planning 8. An authenticated attacker can craft malicious XML payloads containing external entity references to read sensitive files from the server's filesystem and exfiltrate that data to a remote attacker-controlled server.

MitigationDisable XML external entity (DTD) processing in the application's XML parser configuration, implement strict input validation on XML uploads, and consider upgrading to a patched version if available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Confirm Visual Planning installation and version
    Locate the Visual Planning installation directory and check for version information in about pages, configuration files, or installed program listings. Common paths include /opt/visual-planning or C:\Program Files\Visual Planning. Look for a version.txt, about dialog, or check the WAR file version if deployed to Tomcat.
    Affected if The installed version is Stilog Visual Planning 8 (any minor version) and XML import/upload features are in use
  2. Identify XML import or upload endpoints
    Review the application web.xml or exposed servlet mappings to locate endpoints that accept XML file uploads or XML data submissions. Common patterns include /import, /upload, /xml, or REST API endpoints accepting application/xml content types.
    Affected if The application exposes endpoints that accept and process XML input from authenticated users
  3. Inspect XML parser configuration
    Check the application's XML parser configuration files (often in WEB-INF/classes, config directories, or Spring beans configuration) for how XMLInputFactory or DocumentBuilderFactory is configured. Look for features like XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING and whether external entity processing is explicitly disabled.
    Affected if The XML parser does not explicitly disable external entity (DTD) processing and FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING is not enabled
  4. Verify authenticated user access to XML features
    Confirm that regular authenticated users have permissions to access XML import/upload functionality through role configuration in conf/application.properties, security XML files, or the administration console.
    Affected if Authenticated users (non-administrators) can access XML processing features
  5. Review logs for XXE indicator patterns
    Search application logs for patterns indicating XXE attempts or XML parsing errors that might reveal external entity processing is active, such as references to external DTDs or file:// protocol in XML submissions.
    Affected if Logs show successful processing of XML with external entity references

A user is affected if they run Stilog Visual Planning 8 with XML import/upload functionality enabled and the XML parser is not configured to disable 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.

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

Disable XML external entity (DTD) processing in the application's XML parser configuration, implement strict input validation on XML uploads, and consider upgrading to a patched version if available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2023-49234 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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