CVE-2024-49781
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 OpenPages with Watson 8.3 and 9.0 IBM OpenPages 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.
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 OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0 contains an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) vulnerability. When processing XML data, the application does not properly disable external entity resolution, allowing a remote attacker to reference external entities that can expose sensitive filesystem contents or cause excessive memory consumption through resource exhaustion.
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>= 8.3, < 8.3.0.3>= 9.0, < 9.0.0.5CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 IBM OpenPages with Watson versionLocate the installed version of IBM OpenPages with Watson in the system information, about page, or version registry. This is typically accessible through the admin console or installation directory.Affected if The installed version is 8.3.x before 8.3.0.3, or 9.0.x before 9.0.0.5
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Determine if XML import or upload features are in useReview application configuration to identify if XML import, data upload, or integration features that process XML documents are enabled.Affected if XML processing features are active and accept input from users or external systems
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Inspect XML parser configurationExamine the XML parser or transformer configuration files used by the application for settings related to external entity resolution or DOCTYPE processing.Affected if The XML parser is configured to allow external entity resolution or does not explicitly disable XXE-prone settings
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable IBM OpenPages with Watson version (8.3.x before 8.3.0.3 or 9.0.x before 9.0.0.5) and processes XML input through features that leverage the unpatched XML parser configuration.
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 data8.3.0.39.0.0.5
Disable external entity processing in the XML parser configuration used by the application, or implement input validation to reject XML containing DOCTYPE declarations with external entity references.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-49781 — 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-2024-49781 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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