Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:LSummary
CVE-2024-49781 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (CWE-611) vulnerability in Ibm Openpages With Watson. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 36th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
IBM OpenPages with Watson versions 8.3 and 9.0 is vulnerable to CVE-2024-49781, an XML external entity (XXE) injection flaw that occurs when processing XML data. This vulnerability, published on 2025-02-20, carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L) and is associated with CWE-611. It allows attackers to potentially read sensitive files or manipulate XML parsing in ways that lead to information disclosure or resource exhaustion.
A remote attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation enables the disclosure of sensitive information from the server or consumption of memory resources, resulting in high confidentiality impact (C:H) and low availability impact (A:L), without affecting integrity.
The IBM security advisory at https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7183541 provides details on the vulnerability, including recommended mitigations and patches for affected versions.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-4609
Vulnerability Data
IBM OpenPages with Watson 8.3 and 9.0 IBM OpenPages is vulnerable to an XML external entity injection (XXE) attack when processing XML data. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to expose sensitive information or consume memory resources.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.5.1V15.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Secure configuration settings can disable external entity processing in XML parsers.
Developer testing can discover XXE flaws through targeted XML parsing tests.
Input validation can reject or sanitize XML containing external entity references.
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.
Hardened XML parser configurations directly disable external entity resolution.
Secure SDLC practices include input validation and safe XML parser configuration that prevent XXE.
Vulnerability scanning can discover XXE flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Patching eliminates XXE-vulnerable parser versions but is only one aspect of software maintenance.
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.
Security testing in development catches XXE via static analysis and dynamic XML fuzzing.
Vulnerability management identifies and patches XML libraries with unsafe default entity settings.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and entity handling that directly prevents XXE.
Application security requirements explicitly call for disabling external entity processing in XML parsers.
Secure architecture principles include safe parser configuration that mitigates external entity risks.
Secure coding standards require disabling DTDs and external entities in XML processing.