Security Resilience

CVE-2023-0871

XXE in Opennms Meridian 2020.0.0 – 2020.1.38

XXE
Published
11 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0055 45th percentile
Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-0871 is a medium-severity Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (CWE-611) vulnerability in Opennms Meridian. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 45th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A02:2025 Security Misconfiguration

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

XXE injection in /rtc/post/ endpoint in OpenMNS Horizon 31.0.8 and versions earlier than 32.0.2 on multiple platforms is vulnerable to XML external entity (XXE) injection, which can be used for instance to force Horizon to make arbitrary HTTP requests to…

more

internal and external services. The solution is to upgrade to Meridian 2023.1.6, 2022.1.19, 2021.1.30, 2020.1.38 or Horizon 32.0.2 or newer. Meridian and Horizon installation instructions state that they are intended for installation within an organization's private networks and should not be directly accessible from the Internet. OpenNMS thanks Erik Wynter and Moshe Apelbaum for reporting this issue.

CWE(s)
CWE-611

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-0815Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-0867Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-40313Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-40315Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-0872Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-0846Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-40311Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-0870Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-40612Same product: Opennms Horizon
CVE-2023-40312Same product: Opennms Horizon

Affected Assets

opennms
horizon
31.0.8 · 32.0.0 — 32.0.2
opennms
meridian
2020.0.0 — 2020.1.38 · 2021.0.0 — 2021.1.30 · 2022.1.0 — 2022.1.9

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.5.1
  • V15.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-611

Penetration testing includes XML external entity payloads, detecting XXE vulnerabilities and enabling their mitigation.

SI-4 System Monitoring
addresses: CWE-611

Identifies XML external entity processing via monitoring of unusual file/network access or resource usage.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability scanning can discover XXE flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-01 partial match
blocks

Hardened XML parser configurations directly disable external entity resolution.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching eliminates XXE-vulnerable parser versions but is only one aspect of software maintenance.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and safe XML parser configuration that prevent XXE.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.32 Intellectual property rights partial match
removes

References