Hard-coded CredentialsWeakness · CWE-798

CVE-2024-55557

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
ui/pref/ProxyPrefView.java in weasis-core in Weasis 4.5.1 has a hardcoded key for symmetric encryption of proxy credentials.

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

Weasis 4.5.1 contains a hardcoded symmetric encryption key in ProxyPrefView.java used to encrypt proxy credentials. An attacker with access to the source code or binary can recover this key and decrypt stored proxy credentials, potentially gaining unauthorized network access.

MitigationReplace the hardcoded encryption key with a proper key management solution (e.g., OS keychain, external KMS, or derived key based on user credentials). Migrate existing stored credentials to the new encryption scheme.

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

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Weasis installation and version
    Locate the Weasis installation directory and check the version. On Windows, look in Program Files\Weasis or similar. Check for a version file or the main JAR filename which typically includes the version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 4.5.1 exactly.
  2. Check for proxy configuration
    Examine Weasis configuration files for proxy settings. Look in the Weasis config directory for files like preferences.properties, weasis.properties, or any XML configuration files that may contain proxy_host, proxy_port, proxy_username, or proxy_password entries.
    Affected if Proxy credentials (username and password) are configured and stored in Weasis configuration files.
  3. Inspect stored credential files
    Search the Weasis configuration and data directories for files that may contain encrypted proxy credentials. Common locations include the user home directory under .weasis or the Weasis config folder. Look for files with names containing 'proxy', 'pref', or 'credentials'.
    Affected if Encrypted proxy credentials exist in stored configuration files that were encrypted using the hardcoded key.
  4. Verify the vulnerable class exists
    If accessible, examine the Weasis JAR file (weasis-core-*.jar) and locate ProxyPrefView.java or its compiled class file ProxyPrefView.class. The presence of this class indicates the vulnerable code path is included.
    Affected if The ProxyPrefView class is present in the Weasis installation, indicating the hardcoded key may be used for credential encryption.

You are affected if you have Weasis version 4.5.1 installed AND have configured proxy credentials that are stored locally, as these credentials were encrypted using the hardcoded symmetric key.

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

Replace the hardcoded encryption key with a proper key management solution (e.g., OS keychain, external KMS, or derived key based on user credentials). Migrate existing stored credentials to the new encryption scheme.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
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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-2024-55557 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
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data