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XStream is vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Deletion on the local host when unmarshalling as long as the executing process has sufficient rights

High
joehni published GHSA-74cv-f58x-f9wf Mar 13, 2021

Package

maven com.thoughtworks.xstream (Maven)

Affected versions

< 1.4.16

Patched versions

1.4.16

Description

Impact

The processed stream at unmarshalling time contains type information to recreate the formerly written objects. XStream creates therefore new instances based on these type information. An attacker can manipulate the processed input stream and replace or inject objects, that result in the deletion of a file on the local host. No user is affected, who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's security framework with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types.

Patches

If you rely on XStream's default blacklist of the Security Framework, you will have to use at least version 1.4.16.

Workarounds

See workarounds for the different versions covering all CVEs.

References

See full information about the nature of the vulnerability and the steps to reproduce it in XStream's documentation for CVE-2021-21343.

Credits

钟潦贵 (Liaogui Zhong) found and reported the issue to XStream and provided the required information to reproduce it.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Severity

High

CVE ID

CVE-2021-21343

Weaknesses

External Control of File Name or Path

The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations. Learn more on MITRE.

Deserialization of Untrusted Data

The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid. Learn more on MITRE.