GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH

Eclipse Jetty XmlParser allows arbitrary DOCTYPE declarations

From the reporter

XmlParser is vulnerable to XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability.
XmlParser is being used when parsing Jetty’s xml configuration files. An attacker might exploit
this vulnerability in order to achieve SSRF or cause a denial of service.
One possible scenario is importing a (remote) malicious WAR into a Jetty’s server, while the
WAR includes a malicious web.xml.

Workarounds

Don't use Jetty's XmlParser to parse data from users.

There are no circumstances in a normally deployed Jetty server where potentially hostile XML is given to the XmlParser class without the attacker already having arbitrary access to the server. I.e. in order to exploit XmlParser the attacker would already have the ability to deploy and execute hostile code. Specifically, Jetty has no protection against malicious web application and potentially hostile web applications should only be run on an isolated virtualisation.

Thus this is not considered a vulnerability of the Jetty server itself, as any such usage of the jetty XmlParser is equally vulnerable as a direct usage of the JVM supplied SAX parser. No CVE will be allocated to this advisory.

However, any direct usage of the XmlParser class by an application may be vulnerable. The impact would greatly depend on how the application uses XmlParser, but it could be a denial of service due to large entity expansion, or possibly the revealing local files if the XML results are accessible remotely.

An XML parser processes external entity references in untrusted input, causing the server to fetch internal resources or remote URLs. Typical impact: local file disclosure, server-side request forgery, or denial of service.

GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH has a CVSS score of 3.9 (Low). The vector is requires local access, high privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (11.0.16, 10.0.16, 12.0.0, 9.4.52.v20230823); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

Ability to configure the SAXParserFactory to fit the needs of your particular XML parser implementation have been merged as part of PR #10067

1. What is GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH? GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH is a low-severity XML external entity injection (XXE) vulnerability in org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml (maven), affecting versions >= 11.0.0-alpha0, <= 11.0.15. It is fixed in 11.0.16, 10.0.16, 12.0.0, 9.4.52.v20230823. An XML parser processes external entity references in untrusted input, causing the server to fetch internal resources or remote URLs.
2. How severe is GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH? GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH has a CVSS score of 3.9 (Low). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml are affected by GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH? org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml (maven) versions >= 11.0.0-alpha0, <= 11.0.15 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH? Yes. GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH is fixed in 11.0.16, 10.0.16, 12.0.0, 9.4.52.v20230823. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix GHSA-58QW-P7QM-5RVH?
   • Upgrade org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml to 11.0.16 or later
   • Upgrade org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml to 10.0.16 or later
   • Upgrade org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml to 12.0.0 or later
   • Upgrade org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-xml to 9.4.52.v20230823 or later