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XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in the XML data handler

Moderate severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jul 27, 2023 in getkirby/kirby • Updated Nov 5, 2023

Package

composer getkirby/cms (Composer)

Affected versions

< 3.5.8.3
>= 3.6.0, < 3.6.6.3
>= 3.7.0, < 3.7.5.2
>= 3.8.0, < 3.8.4.1
>= 3.9.0, < 3.9.6

Patched versions

3.5.8.3
3.6.6.3
3.7.5.2
3.8.4.1
3.9.6

Description

TL;DR

This vulnerability only affects Kirby sites that use the Xml data handler (e.g. Data::decode($string, 'xml')) or the Xml::parse() method in site or plugin code. The Kirby core does not use any of the affected methods.

If you use an affected method and cannot rule out XML input controlled by an attacker, we strongly recommend to update to a patch release.


Introduction

XML External Entities (XXE) is a little used feature in the XML markup language that allows to include data from external files in an XML structure. If the name of the external file can be controlled by an attacker, this becomes a vulnerability that can be abused for various system impacts like the disclosure of internal or confidential data that is stored on the server (arbitrary file disclosure) or to perform network requests on behalf of the server (server-side request forgery, SSRF).

Impact

Kirby's Xml::parse() method used PHP's LIBXML_NOENT constant, which enabled the processing of XML external entities during the parsing operation.

The Xml::parse() method is used in the Xml data handler (e.g. Data::decode($string, 'xml')).

Both the vulnerable method and the data handler are not used in the Kirby core. However they may be used in site or plugin code, e.g. to parse RSS feeds or other XML files. If those files are of an external origin (e.g. uploaded by a user or retrieved from an external URL), attackers may be able to include an external entity in the XML file that will then be processed in the parsing process.

Kirby sites that don't use XML parsing in site or plugin code are not affected.

Patches

The problem has been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.3, Kirby 3.6.6.3, Kirby 3.7.5.2, Kirby 3.8.4.1 and Kirby 3.9.6. Please update to one of these or a later version to fix the vulnerability.

In all of the mentioned releases, we have removed the LIBXML_NOENT constant as processing of external entities is out of scope of the parsing logic. This protects all uses of the method against the described vulnerability.

Credits

Thanks to Alexandre Zanni (@noraj) at ACCEIS and Patrick Falb (@dapatrese) at FORMER 03 for responsibly reporting the identified issue.

References

@bastianallgeier bastianallgeier published to getkirby/kirby Jul 27, 2023
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jul 27, 2023
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jul 28, 2023
Reviewed Jul 28, 2023
Last updated Nov 5, 2023

Severity

Moderate
6.8
/ 10

CVSS base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2023-38490

GHSA ID

GHSA-q386-w6fg-gmgp

Source code

Credits

Checking history
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