CVE-2022-25857: Snakeyaml Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3mc7-4q67-w48m
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-776 CWE-400
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-25857 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion')) affecting Snakeyaml libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves uncontrolled resource consumption in snakeyaml. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.31.

CVE-2022-25857 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-25857
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3mc7-4q67-w48m
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 Snakeyaml
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-2022-25857

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

org.yaml:snakeyaml fixed: 1.31 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.yaml</groupId>
    <artifactId>snakeyaml</artifactId>
    <version>1.31</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=org.yaml

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2022-25857, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.yaml

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Snakeyaml in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.31), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.yaml 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 Snakeyaml, 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

The package org.yaml:snakeyaml from 0 and before 1.31 are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) due missing to nested depth limitation for collections.

CVE-2022-25857 Affected Snakeyaml Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.31
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.yaml:snakeyaml
maven/org.yaml/snakeyaml
Maven
< 1.31
1.31

References

NVD — CVE-2022-25857 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25857
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/commit/fc300780da21f4bb92c148bc90257201220cf174
bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml... WEB
https://bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/commits/fc300780da21f4bb92c148bc90257201220cf174
bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml... WEB
https://bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/issues/525
Snakeyaml Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/snakeyaml/snakeyaml
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce... WEB
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/10/msg00001.html
Snakeyaml Security Information SECURITY
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240315-0010
Snakeyaml Security Information SECURITY
https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGYAML-2806360

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-25857?
CVE-2022-25857 is a security vulnerability in Snakeyaml involving Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in snakeyaml under CWE-776: Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs ('XML Entity Expansion').
Which Snakeyaml versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.31 across affected packages: org.yaml:snakeyaml.
What version fixes CVE-2022-25857?
Upgrading to 1.31 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is snakeyaml affected?
Yes, org.yaml:snakeyaml is affected in releases prior to 1.31. Upgrade your dependency to 1.31 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-25857?
CVE-2022-25857 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-2022-25857?
CVE-2022-25857 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-2022-25857?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.yaml'. 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-3mc7-4q67-w48m",
  "modified" : "2024-03-15T19:06:43Z",
  "published" : "2022-08-31T00:00:24Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-25857" ],
  "summary" : "Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in snakeyaml",
  "details" : "The package org.yaml:snakeyaml from 0 and before 1.31 are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) due missing to nested depth limitation for collections.",
  "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" : "org.yaml:snakeyaml"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.31"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25857"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/commit/fc300780da21f4bb92c148bc90257201220cf174"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/commits/fc300780da21f4bb92c148bc90257201220cf174"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bitbucket.org/snakeyaml/snakeyaml/issues/525"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/snakeyaml/snakeyaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/10/msg00001.html"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240315-0010"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-JAVA-ORGYAML-2806360"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-400", "CWE-776" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-09-09T17:53:43Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-08-30T05:15:00Z"
  }
}