CVE-2019-17570

Description

A flaw was discovered where the XMLRPC client implementation in Apache XMLRPC, performed deserialization of the server-side exception serialized in the faultCause attribute of XMLRPC error response messages. A malicious or compromised XMLRPC server could possibly use this flaw to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of an application using the Apache XMLRPC client library.

Statement

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 provides vulnerable version of xmlrpc via the Optional repository. As the Optional repository is not supported, this issue is not planned to be addressed there.

Red Hat Virtualization Manager uses xmlrpc only for internal communication with the scheduler. Since this is a component of the Manager itself, it is not subject to attacker influence and does not represent an attack surface.

Mitigation

There is no known mitigation other than restricting applications using the Apache XMLRPC client library from sending requests to untrusted XMLRPC servers.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score9.89.8N/A
Attack VectorNetworkNetworkN/A
Attack ComplexityLowLowN/A
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityHighHighN/A
Integrity ImpactHighHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Integrity

Technical Impact: Modify Application Data; Unexpected State

Attackers can modify unexpected objects or data that was assumed to be safe from modification. Deserialized data or code could be modified without using the provided accessor functions, or unexpected functions could be invoked.

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU)

If a function is making an assumption on when to terminate, based on a sentry in a string, it could easily never terminate.

Other

Technical Impact: Varies by Context

The consequences can vary widely, because it depends on which objects or methods are being deserialized, and how they are used. Making an assumption that the code in the deserialized object is valid is dangerous and can enable exploitation. One example is attackers using gadget chains to perform unauthorized actions, such as generating a shell.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Guillaume Teissier (Orange) for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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