CVE-2021-43859 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2021-43859
Vulnerability Scoring

7.5
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2021-43859 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2021-43859 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕕 21 Nov 2024, 06:29 UTC
Originally published on: 🕛 01 Feb 2022, 12:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 1023 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security-advisories@github.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVE-2021-43859 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2021-43859: XStream is an open source java library to serialize objects to XML and back again. Versions prior to 1.4.19 may allow a remote attacker to allocate 100% CPU time on the target system depending on CPU type or parallel execution of such a payload resulting in a denial of service only by manipulating the processed input stream. XStream 1.4.19 monitors and accumulates the time it takes to add elements to collections and throws an exception if a set threshold is exceeded. Users are advised to upgrade as soon as possible. Users unable to upgrade may set the NO_REFERENCE mode to prevent recursion. See GHSA-rmr5-cpv2-vgjf for further details on a workaround if an upgrade is not possible.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2021-43859

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2021-43859 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2021-43859

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2021-43859 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2021-43859, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2021-43859, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2021-43859 has no significant impact on data confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2021-43859 poses no threat to data integrity.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2021-43859 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 6.933% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 94.01% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 5.989999999999995% of others.

CVE-2021-43859 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-400

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • XML Ping of the Death CAPEC-147 An attacker initiates a resource depletion attack where a large number of small XML messages are delivered at a sufficiently rapid rate to cause a denial of service or crash of the target. Transactions such as repetitive SOAP transactions can deplete resources faster than a simple flooding attack because of the additional resources used by the SOAP protocol and the resources necessary to process SOAP messages. The transactions used are immaterial as long as they cause resource utilization on the target. In other words, this is a normal flooding attack augmented by using messages that will require extra processing on the target.
  • Sustained Client Engagement CAPEC-227 An adversary attempts to deny legitimate users access to a resource by continually engaging a specific resource in an attempt to keep the resource tied up as long as possible. The adversary's primary goal is not to crash or flood the target, which would alert defenders; rather it is to repeatedly perform actions or abuse algorithmic flaws such that a given resource is tied up and not available to a legitimate user. By carefully crafting a requests that keep the resource engaged through what is seemingly benign requests, legitimate users are limited or completely denied access to the resource.
  • Regular Expression Exponential Blowup CAPEC-492 An adversary may execute an attack on a program that uses a poor Regular Expression(Regex) implementation by choosing input that results in an extreme situation for the Regex. A typical extreme situation operates at exponential time compared to the input size. This is due to most implementations using a Nondeterministic Finite Automaton(NFA) state machine to be built by the Regex algorithm since NFA allows backtracking and thus more complex regular expressions.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.6:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.6:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:0.6:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.0:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:xstream_project:xstream:1.4.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:34:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_guided_search:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:commerce_guided_search:11.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:11.3.0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:11.3.0.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0.0.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_brm_-_elastic_charging_engine:12.0.0.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_automated_test_suite:1.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_cloud_native_core_automated_test_suite:1.9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_diameter_intelligence_hub:8.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_policy_management:12.6.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:communications_policy_management:12.6.0.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_private_banking:12.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:flexcube_private_banking:12.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:16.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:16.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:17.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:17.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:18.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:18.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:19.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:19.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:20.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:oracle:retail_xstore_point_of_service:20.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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