CVE-2019-5442: Pippo jaxb XML Entity Expansion Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hwcx-9p4j-7hwj
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-776
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-5442 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) xml entity expansion vulnerability (CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion')) affecting Pippo jaxb libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves xml entity expansion in pippo. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2019-5442 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-5442
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hwcx-9p4j-7hwj
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion')
Affected Product Pippo jaxb
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2019-5442

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Pippo jaxb dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

ro.pippo:pippo-jaxb fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>ro.pippo</groupId>
    <artifactId>pippo-jaxb</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=ro.pippo

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2019-5442, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=ro.pippo

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Pippo jaxb in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=ro.pippo command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion'), where the product uses xml documents and allows their structure to be defined with a document type definition (dtd), but it does not properly control the number of recursive definitions of entities. In Pippo jaxb, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

XML Entity Expansion (Billion Laughs Attack) on Pippo 1.12.0 results in Denial of Service.Entities are created recursively and large amounts of heap memory is taken. Eventually, the JVM process will run out of memory. Otherwise, if the OS does not bound the memory on that process, memory will continue to be exhausted and will affect other processes on the system.

CVE-2019-5442 Affected Pippo jaxb Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
ro.pippo:pippo-jaxb
maven/ro.pippo/pippo-jaxb
Maven
≤ 1.12.0

References

NVD — CVE-2019-5442 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5442
hackerone.com/reports/506791 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/506791

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-5442?
CVE-2019-5442 is a security vulnerability in Pippo jaxb involving XML Entity Expansion in Pippo under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion').
Which Pippo jaxb versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: ro.pippo:pippo-jaxb.
What version fixes CVE-2019-5442?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is pippo-jaxb affected?
Yes, ro.pippo:pippo-jaxb is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-5442?
CVE-2019-5442 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-5442?
CVE-2019-5442 is classified under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion') (The product uses XML documents and allows their structure to be defined with a Document Type Definition (DTD), but it does not properly control the number of recursive definitions of entities.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2019-5442?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=ro.pippo'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hwcx-9p4j-7hwj",
  "modified" : "2021-08-16T15:20:04Z",
  "published" : "2019-06-13T20:22:30Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-5442" ],
  "summary" : "XML Entity Expansion in Pippo",
  "details" : "XML Entity Expansion (Billion Laughs Attack) on Pippo 1.12.0 results in Denial of Service.Entities are created recursively and large amounts of heap memory is taken. Eventually, the JVM process will run out of memory. Otherwise, if the OS does not bound the memory on that process, memory will continue to be exhausted and will affect other processes on the system.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "ro.pippo:pippo-jaxb"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "1.12.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-5442"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/506791"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-776" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2019-06-13T20:22:17Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2019-06-12T16:29:00Z"
  }
}