Overview
GeoServer, a highly popular open-source server that facilitates the sharing and editing of geospatial data, has been identified as containing a significant vulnerability, dubbed CVE-2024-34711. This vulnerability has been found to allow unauthorized attackers to execute an XML External Entities (XEE) attack, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
The impact of this vulnerability is severe, affecting a wide range of systems across different sectors due to the ubiquitous use of GeoServer in managing and manipulating geospatial data. It underscores the pressing need for robust security measures in managing and sharing geospatial data.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2024-34711
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.3)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
GeoServer | 2.25.0 and greater
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability lies in GeoServer’s URI validation process. GeoServer uses the PreventLocalEntityResolver class from GeoTools to filter out malicious URIs in XML entities before resolving them. However, the regex used for this validation, (?i)(jar:file|http|vfs)[^?#;]*\\.xsd, is flawed, allowing attackers to send GET requests to any HTTP server or limited file.
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to perform an XML External Entities (XEE) attack. This could potentially allow them to scan internal networks, gain information about them, and exploit any weaknesses they find.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited using an HTTP GET request:
GET http://internal.network/vulnerable_endpoint HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/xml
<!DOCTYPE foo [
<!ELEMENT foo ANY >
<!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "file:///etc/passwd" >]>
<foo>&xxe;</foo>In this example, the attacker is attempting to read a sensitive file from the server. The payload is sent as an XML entity, which if processed by an affected GeoServer instance, could lead to data leakage.
Mitigation
While there is no immediate remedy for this vulnerability, GeoServer users are advised to apply any available vendor patches as soon as they are released. As a temporary mitigation measure, users can also employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) or Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) to detect and prevent potential XEE attacks. Further, it is encouraged to review and strengthen network security policies and practices regularly.