CVE-2022-41966: Xstream Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-j563-grx4-pjpv
CVSS 8.2
CWE-121 CWE-502 CWE-120 CWE-674
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-41966 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.2) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow) affecting Xstream libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves xstream can cause denial of service via stack overflow. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.4.20.

CVE-2022-41966 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-41966
GHSA Identifier GHSA-j563-grx4-pjpv
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.2
CWE Classification CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow
Affected Product Xstream
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.2

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:L/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 Low (I:L)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2022-41966

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

com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream fixed: 1.4.20
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.thoughtworks.xstream</groupId>
    <artifactId>xstream</artifactId>
    <version>1.4.20</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=com.thoughtworks.xstream

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2022-41966, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.thoughtworks.xstream

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Xstream in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.4.20), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.thoughtworks.xstream 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-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow, where a stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function). In Xstream, 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

### Impact The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to terminate the application with a stack overflow error resulting in a denial of service only by manipulating the processed input stream. ### Patches XStream 1.4.20 handles the stack overflow and raises an InputManipulationException instead. ### Workarounds The attack uses the hash code implementation for collections and maps to force recursive hash calculation causing a stack overflow. Following types of the Java runtime are affected: - java.util.HashMap - java.util.HashSet - java.util.Hashtable - java.util.LinkedHashMap - java.util.LinkedHashSet - Other third party collection implementations that use their element's hash code may also be affected A simple solution is to catch the StackOverflowError in the client code calling XStream. If your object graph does not use referenced elements at all, you may simply set the NO_REFERENCE mode: ```Java XStream xstream = new XStream(); xstream.setMode(XStream.NO_REFERENCES); ``` If your object graph contains neither a Hashtable, HashMap nor a HashSet (or one of the linked variants of it) then you can use the security framework to deny the usage of these types: ```Java XStream xstream = new XStream(); xstream.denyTypes(new Class[]{ java.util.HashMap.class, java.util.HashSet.class, java.util.Hashtable.class, java.util.LinkedHashMap.class, java.util.LinkedHashSet.class }); ``` Unfortunately these types are very common. If you only use HashMap or HashSet and your XML refers these only as default map or set, you may additionally change the default implementation of java.util.Map and java.util.Set at unmarshalling time:: ```Java xstream.addDefaultImplementation(java.util.TreeMap.class, java.util.Map.class); xstream.addDefaultImplementation(java.util.TreeSet.class, java.util.Set.class); ``` However, this implies that your application does not care about the implementation of the map and all elements are comparable. ### References See full information about the nature of the vulnerability and the steps to reproduce it in XStream's documentation for [CVE-2022-41966](https://x-stream.github.io/CVE-2022-41966.html). ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [XStream](https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/issues) * Contact us at [XStream Google Group](https://groups.google.com/group/xstream-user)

CVE-2022-41966 Affected Xstream Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.4.20
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream
Maven
< 1.4.20
1.4.20

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-41966?
CVE-2022-41966 is a security vulnerability in Xstream involving XStream can cause Denial of Service via stack overflow under CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow.
Which Xstream versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.4.20 across affected packages: com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream.
What version fixes CVE-2022-41966?
Upgrading to 1.4.20 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is xstream affected?
Yes, com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream is affected in releases prior to 1.4.20. Upgrade your dependency to 1.4.20 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-41966?
CVE-2022-41966 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-41966?
CVE-2022-41966 is classified under CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow (A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function).).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2022-41966?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.thoughtworks.xstream'. 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
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-j563-grx4-pjpv",
  "modified" : "2022-12-29T01:48:08Z",
  "published" : "2022-12-29T01:48:08Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-41966" ],
  "summary" : "XStream can cause Denial of Service via stack overflow",
  "details" : "### Impact\nThe vulnerability may allow a remote attacker to terminate the application with a stack overflow error resulting in a denial of service only by manipulating the processed input stream.\n\n### Patches\nXStream 1.4.20 handles the stack overflow and raises an InputManipulationException instead.\n\n### Workarounds\nThe attack uses the hash code implementation for collections and maps to force recursive hash calculation causing a stack overflow. Following types of the Java runtime are affected:\n\n- java.util.HashMap\n- java.util.HashSet\n- java.util.Hashtable\n- java.util.LinkedHashMap\n- java.util.LinkedHashSet\n- Other third party collection implementations that use their element's hash code may also be affected\n\nA simple solution is to catch the StackOverflowError in the client code calling XStream.\n\nIf your object graph does not use referenced elements at all, you may simply set the NO_REFERENCE mode:\n```Java\nXStream xstream = new XStream();\nxstream.setMode(XStream.NO_REFERENCES);\n```\n\nIf your object graph contains neither a Hashtable, HashMap nor a HashSet (or one of the linked variants of it) then you can use the security framework to deny the usage of these types:\n```Java\nXStream xstream = new XStream();\nxstream.denyTypes(new Class[]{\n java.util.HashMap.class, java.util.HashSet.class, java.util.Hashtable.class, java.util.LinkedHashMap.class, java.util.LinkedHashSet.class\n});\n```\n\nUnfortunately these types are very common. If you only use HashMap or HashSet and your XML refers these only as default map or set, you may additionally change the default implementation of java.util.Map and java.util.Set at unmarshalling time::\n```Java\nxstream.addDefaultImplementation(java.util.TreeMap.class, java.util.Map.class);\nxstream.addDefaultImplementation(java.util.TreeSet.class, java.util.Set.class);\n```\nHowever, this implies that your application does not care about the implementation of the map and all elements are comparable.\n\n### References\nSee full information about the nature of the vulnerability and the steps to reproduce it in XStream's documentation for [CVE-2022-41966](https://x-stream.github.io/CVE-2022-41966.html).\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [XStream](https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/issues)\n* Contact us at [XStream Google Group](https://groups.google.com/group/xstream-user)\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.thoughtworks.xstream:xstream"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.4.20"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/x-stream/xstream/security/advisories/GHSA-j563-grx4-pjpv"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41966"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/x-stream/xstream"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://x-stream.github.io/CVE-2022-41966.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-120", "CWE-121", "CWE-502", "CWE-674" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-12-29T01:48:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-12-28T00:15:00Z"
  }
}