Actively exploited vulnerability
SAP NetWeaver: xml external entity flaw under attack
CVE-2016-9563 · SAP NetWeaver XML External Entity (XXE) Vulnerability
What is affected
SAP NetWeaver is mostly run by companies, schools and public bodies, not on home computers. You are unlikely to have it yourself, but organisations that hold your data may. Breaches that start with flaws like this one are how personal data ends up leaked.
SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java Platforms contains an unspecified vulnerability in BC-BMT-BPM-DSK which allows remote, authenticated users to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks.
What an attacker can do
This is a xml external entity flaw. It lets an attacker make the system read local files or contact internal services while it processes a crafted XML document.
- How it is reached
- Over the internet or network
- Access the attacker needs
- A basic user account
- Does the victim have to do something?
- No, works without the victim doing anything
What to do
- At home: nothing to install. Keep your own devices updated and use a different password for every service, so that a breach at one organisation does not open your other accounts.
- If you administer SAP NetWeaver at work: apply the vendor's fix or mitigation now and review logs for signs of compromise, because the flaw was being exploited before it was listed.
- If the product is past its support date and no fix exists, take it off the internet or retire it.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
How urgent is it
CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on November 3, 2021, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by May 3, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.
The EPSS model estimates a 24% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 98% of all scored vulnerabilities.
Its CVSS severity score is 6.5 out of 10 (medium), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.
Technical description
BC-BMT-BPM-DSK in SAP NetWeaver AS JAVA 7.5 allows remote authenticated users to conduct XML External Entity (XXE) attacks via the sap.com~tc~bpem~him~uwlconn~provider~web/bpemuwlconn URI, aka SAP Security Note 2296909.