CVE-2021-38948

IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data

High · published November 2, 2021

CVSS v3.0
7.1
EPSS
2%
Percentile
80.9
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

⚡ An XML External Entity Injection vulnerability lurks in IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7, waiting for a crafty attacker to exploit it! Think of it like a restaurant where a delivery driver can read any order slips on the counter; if they know how to manipulate the XML, they can sneakily access sensitive information or drain resources without anyone noticing! An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to read sensitive data or even cause a denial of service by consuming memory resources. It’s like leaving the door wide open for unwanted guests, who can rummage through your files or clutter up your space, leaving you with a mess to clean up.

Put simply

Think of it like a restaurant where a delivery driver can read any order slips on the counter; if they know how to manipulate the XML, they can sneakily access sensitive information or drain resources without anyone noticing! This vulnerability allows remote attackers to inject malicious XML content, leading to unauthorized data access or resource exhaustion. Essentially, the server trusts the XML input too much and falls prey to an external entity that it should never have allowed in!

What to do

An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to read sensitive data or even cause a denial of service by consuming memory resources. It’s like leaving the door wide open for unwanted guests, who can rummage through your files or clutter up your space, leaving you with a mess to clean up. To protect your environment, upgrade IBM InfoSphere Information Server to the latest version, which includes crucial patches. Additionally, ensure that you have input validation and XML hardening measures in place to mitigate this risk effectively. You’ve got this! By taking these steps, you’re on your way to securing your system like a pro! 🛡️

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.0
7.1 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.0/S:U/AV:N/PR:L/I:N/A:L/AC:L/C:H/UI:N/RL:O/RC:C/E:U
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.02037 · 80.9th percentile
Published
2021-11-02T16:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 02 NOV 16:00Z
    IBM InfoSphere Information Server 11.7 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data
    cvelistv5