CVE-2026-44618
Description
A flaw was found in Apache CXF. An insecure XML parser configuration within Apache CXF's WS-Transfer module may allow a remote attacker to perform XML External Entity (XXE) attacks. This could lead to information disclosure, denial of service, or server-side request forgery.
Statement
Red Hat products that ship Apache CXF either do not include the WS-Transfer module (cxf-rt-ws-transfer) or ship version 4.1.7, which already contains the fix for this vulnerability. No Red Hat product is affected.
Mitigation
If using Apache CXF's WS-Transfer module, upgrade to Apache CXF versions 4.2.1, 4.1.6, or 3.6.11. If the WS-Transfer module is not required, it can be removed or disabled to eliminate the attack surface.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.3 | N/A | 5.3 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | Low | N/A | Low |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Application Data; Read Files or Directories
If the attacker is able to include a crafted DTD and a default entity resolver is enabled, the attacker may be able to access arbitrary files on the system. By submitting an XML file that defines an external entity with a file:// URI, an attacker can cause the processing application to read the contents of a local file. For example, a URI such as "file:///c:/winnt/win.ini" designates (in Windows) the file C:\Winnt\win.ini, or file:///etc/passwd designates the password file in Unix-based systems. Once the content of the URI is read, it is fed back into the application that is processing the XML. This application may echo back the data (e.g., in an error message), thereby exposing the file contents.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker may supply a crafted DTD using URIs with schemes such as http://, forcing the application to make outgoing HTTP requests to servers that the attacker cannot reach directly, which can be used to bypass firewall restrictions; hide the source of attacks such as port scanning; or otherwise leverage the server's trust relationship with other entities.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
The product could consume excessive CPU cycles or memory using a URI that points to a large file, or a device that always returns data such as /dev/random. Alternately, the URI could reference a file that contains many nested or recursive entity references to further slow down parsing.
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