CVE-2022-48565

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ModerateModerate ImpactWhat does this mean?
DescriptionStatementMitigationAdditional informationCVSS Score DetailsWeakness (CWE)FAQ

Description

A flaw was found in Python caused by improper handling of XML external entity (XXE) declarations by the plistlib module. By using a specially crafted XML content, an attacker could obtain sensitive information by disclosing files specified by parsing URI, and may cause denial of service by resource exhaustion.

A flaw was found in Python caused by improper handling of XML external entity (XXE) declarations by the plistlib module. By using a specially crafted XML content, an attacker could obtain sensitive information by disclosing files specified by parsing URI, and may cause denial of service by resource exhaustion.

Statement

This vulnerability is classified as Moderate according to Red Hat's Severity Rating Classification, as in contrast to an Important severity rating, the conditions to exploit this vulnerability makes it highly improbable for a general remote use case to lead to arbitrary code execution or affect data integrity and the highest impact is data disclosure and application crash. The versions of python as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 either has fixed code or they just provide `symlinks` to the main `python3` component, which provides the interpreter of the Python programming language. Therefore, both Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8 and 9 are not affected. https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification

This vulnerability is classified as Moderate according to Red Hat's Severity Rating Classification, as in contrast to an Important severity rating, the conditions to exploit this vulnerability makes it highly improbable for a general remote use case to lead to arbitrary code execution or affect data integrity and the highest impact is data disclosure and application crash.

The versions of python as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 either has fixed code or they just provide symlinks to the main python3 component, which provides the interpreter of the Python programming language. Therefore, both Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8 and 9 are not affected.

https://access.redhat.com/security/updates/classification

Mitigation

The XML modules in python are not secure against erroneous or maliciously constructed data. If you need to parse untrusted or unauthenticated data, see the XML vulnerabilities and the defusedxml package sections.

https://docs.python.org/dev/library/xml.html

Additional information

  • Bugzilla 2240059: python: XML External Entity in XML processing plistlib module
  • CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference
  • FAQ: Frequently asked questions about CVE-2022-48565

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

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 HatNVD

CVSS v3 Base Score

7.8

9.8

Attack Vector

Local

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Low

Privileges Required

Low

None

User Interaction

None

None

Scope

Unchanged

Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact

High

High

Integrity Impact

High

High

Availability Impact

High

High

CVSS v3 Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

This vulnerability can only be exploited by parsing a vulnerable .plist file, which is why attack vector has been marked as local.

This vulnerability can only be exploited by parsing a vulnerable .plist file, which is why attack vector has been marked as local.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Red Hat's CVSS v3 score or Impact different from other vendors?

For open source software shipped by multiple vendors, the CVSS base scores may vary for each vendor's version depending on the version they ship, how they ship it, the platform, and even how the software is compiled. This makes scoring of vulnerabilities difficult for third-party vulnerability databases such as NVD that only provide a single CVSS base score for each vulnerability. Red Hat scores reflect how a vulnerability affects our products specifically.

For more information, see https://access.redhat.com/solutions/762393.

My product is listed as "Under investigation" or "Affected", when will Red Hat release a fix for this vulnerability?

  • "Under investigation" doesn't necessarily mean that the product is affected by this vulnerability. It only means that our Analysis Team is still working on determining whether the product is affected and how it is affected.
  • "Affected" means that our Analysis Team has determined that this product is affected by this vulnerability and might release a fix to address this in the near future.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Will not fix"?

A "will not fix" status means that a fix for an affected product version is not planned or not possible due to complexity, which may create additional risk.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Upgrade to a supported product version that includes a fix for this vulnerability (recommended).
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.

What can I do if my product is listed as "Fix deferred"?

A deferred status means that a fix for an affected product version is not guaranteed due to higher-priority development work.

Available options depend mostly on the Impact of the vulnerability and the current Life Cycle phase of your product. Overall, you have the following options:
  • Apply a mitigation (if one exists).
  • Open a support case to request a prioritization of releasing a fix for this vulnerability.
  • Red Hat Engineering focuses on addressing high-priority issues based on their complexity or limited lifecycle support. Therefore, lower-priority issues will not receive immediate fixes.

What is a mitigation?

A mitigation is an action that can be taken to reduce the impact of a security vulnerability, without deploying any fixes.

I have a Red Hat product but it is not in the above list, is it affected?

The listed products were found to include one or more of the components that this vulnerability affects. These products underwent a thorough evaluation to determine their affectedness by this vulnerability. Note that layered products (such as container-based offerings) that consume affected components from any of the products listed in this table may be affected and are not represented.

Why is my security scanner reporting my product as vulnerable to this vulnerability even though my product version is fixed or not affected?

In order to maintain code stability and compatibility, Red Hat usually does not rebase packages to entirely new versions. Instead, we backport fixes and new features to an older version of the package we distribute. This can result in some security scanners that only consider the package version to report the package as vulnerable. To avoid this, we suggest that you use an approved vulnerability scanner from our Red Hat Vulnerability Scanner Certification program.

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