GHSA-3MCP-9WR4-CJQF

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2020-02-24 17:27 – Updated: 2025-07-03 19:49
VLAI?
Summary
Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in dropwizard-validation
Details

Dropwizard-Validation before 1.3.19, and 2.0.2 may allow arbitrary code execution on the host system, with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account, by injecting arbitrary Java Expression Language expressions when using the self-validating feature.

Summary

A server-side template injection was identified in the self-validating (@SelfValidating) feature of dropwizard-validation enabling attackers to inject arbitrary Java EL expressions, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability.

If you're using a self-validating bean (via @SelfValidating), an upgrade to Dropwizard 1.3.19 or 2.0.2 is strongly recommended.

Impact

This issue may allow Remote Code Execution (RCE), allowing to run arbitrary code on the host system (with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account privileges) by injecting arbitrary Java Expression Language (EL) expressions when using the self-validating feature (@SelfValidating, @SelfValidation) in dropwizard-validation.

Patches

The issue has been fixed in dropwizard-validation 1.3.19 and 2.0.2. We strongly recommend upgrading to one of these versions.

Workarounds

If you are not able to upgrade to one of the aforementioned versions of dropwizard-validation but still want to use the @SelfValidating feature, make sure to properly sanitize any message you're adding to the ViolationCollector in the method annotated with @SelfValidation.

Example:

@SelfValidation
public void validateFullName(ViolationCollector col) {
    if (fullName.contains("_")) {
        // Sanitize fullName variable by escaping relevant characters such as "$"
        col.addViolation("Full name contains invalid characters:  " + sanitizeJavaEl(fullName));
    }
}

See also: https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/blob/v2.0.2/dropwizard-validation/src/main/java/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/ViolationCollector.java#L84-L98

References

  • https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3157
  • https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3160
  • https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/7/tutorial/jsf-el.htm
  • https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions
  • https://beanvalidation.org/2.0/spec/#validationapi-message-defaultmessageinterpolation

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in dropwizard/dropwizard * Start a discussion on the dropwizard-dev mailing list

Security contact

If you want to responsibly disclose a security issue in Dropwizard or one of its official modules, please contact us via the published channels in our security policy:

https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/policy#reporting-a-vulnerability

Severity ?
7.9 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L
Show details on source website
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Maven",
        "name": "io.dropwizard:dropwizard-validation"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "1.3.0-rc1"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1.3.19"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Maven",
        "name": "io.dropwizard:dropwizard-validation"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "2.0.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.0.2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2020-5245"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-74"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2020-02-24T17:27:14Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2020-02-24T18:15:00Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "Dropwizard-Validation before 1.3.19, and 2.0.2 may allow arbitrary code execution on the host system, with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account, by injecting arbitrary Java Expression Language expressions when using the self-validating feature.\n\n### Summary\n\nA server-side template injection was identified in the self-validating ([`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html)) feature of **dropwizard-validation** enabling attackers to inject arbitrary Java EL expressions, leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability.\n\nIf you\u0027re using a self-validating bean (via [`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html)), an upgrade to Dropwizard 1.3.19 or 2.0.2 is strongly recommended.\n\n### Impact\n\nThis issue may allow Remote Code Execution (RCE), allowing to run arbitrary code on the host system (with the privileges of the Dropwizard service account privileges) by injecting arbitrary [Java Expression Language (EL)](https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions) expressions when using the self-validating feature ([`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html), [`@SelfValidation`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidation.html)) in **dropwizard-validation**.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe issue has been fixed in **dropwizard-validation** **1.3.19** and **2.0.2**. We strongly recommend upgrading to one of these versions.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nIf you are not able to upgrade to one of the aforementioned versions of **dropwizard-validation** but still want to use the [`@SelfValidating`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidating.html) feature, make sure to properly sanitize any message you\u0027re adding to the [`ViolationCollector`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/ViolationCollector.html) in the method annotated with [`@SelfValidation`](https://javadoc.io/static/io.dropwizard/dropwizard-project/2.0.2/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/SelfValidation.html).\n\nExample:\n```java\n@SelfValidation\npublic void validateFullName(ViolationCollector col) {\n    if (fullName.contains(\"_\")) {\n        // Sanitize fullName variable by escaping relevant characters such as \"$\"\n        col.addViolation(\"Full name contains invalid characters:  \" + sanitizeJavaEl(fullName));\n    }\n}\n```\n\nSee also:\nhttps://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/blob/v2.0.2/dropwizard-validation/src/main/java/io/dropwizard/validation/selfvalidating/ViolationCollector.java#L84-L98\n\n### References\n\n* https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3157\n* https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3160\n* https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/7/tutorial/jsf-el.htm\n* https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions\n* https://beanvalidation.org/2.0/spec/#validationapi-message-defaultmessageinterpolation\n\n### For more information\n\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [dropwizard/dropwizard](https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/issues/new)\n* Start a discussion on the [dropwizard-dev mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/dropwizard-dev)\n\n### Security contact\n\nIf you want to responsibly disclose a security issue in Dropwizard or one of its official modules, please contact us via the published channels in our [security policy](https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/policy):\n\nhttps://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/policy#reporting-a-vulnerability",
  "id": "GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf",
  "modified": "2025-07-03T19:49:40Z",
  "published": "2020-02-24T17:27:27Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/security/advisories/GHSA-3mcp-9wr4-cjqf"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5245"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3157"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/pull/3160"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/commit/28479f743a9d0aab6d0e963fc07f3dd98e8c8236"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard/commit/d87d1e4f8e20f6494c0232bf8560c961b46db634"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://beanvalidation.org/2.0/spec/#validationapi-message-defaultmessageinterpolation"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/validator/6.1/reference/en-US/html_single/#section-interpolation-with-message-expressions"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://docs.oracle.com/javaee/7/tutorial/jsf-el.htm"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/dropwizard/dropwizard"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in dropwizard-validation"
}


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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



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