CVE-2012-5575 Inadequate Encryption Strength in Apache CXF

Medium 6.4 Published 19 Aug 2013 Updated 6 Aug 2024

Remote attackers can force Apache CXF to use weak cryptographic algorithms, enabling easier decryption of communications and bypassing security policies.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2012-5575?

CVE-2012-5575 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Cxf, published on 19 Aug 2013. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Apache CXF 2.5.x before 2.5.10, 2.6.x before CXF 2.6.7, and 2.7.x before CXF 2.7.4 does not verify that a specified cryptographic algorithm is allowed by the WS-SecurityPolicy AlgorithmSuite definition before decrypting, which allows remote attackers to force CXF to use weaker cryptographic algorithms than intended and makes it easier to decrypt communications, aka "XML Encryption backwards compatibility attack."

Weakness: CWE-310

Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-5575?

6 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http. It affects 6 products.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.5.0`	`2.5.10`
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.5.0`	`2.5.10`
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.6.0`	`2.6.7`
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.6.0`	`2.6.7`
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.7.0`	`2.7.4`
`org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http` Maven	From `2.7.0`	`2.7.4`

Linux distribution packages (15)

`apache-cxf` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el4	All versions	`0:2.2.12-12.patch_07.ep5.el4`
`jbossws` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el4	All versions	`0:3.1.2-14.SP15_patch_02.ep5.el4`
`wss4j` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el4	All versions	`0:1.5.12-6_patch_03.ep5.el4`
`apache-cxf` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:2.2.12-12.patch_07.ep5.el5`
`jbossws` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:3.1.2-14.SP15_patch_02.ep5.el5`
`wss4j` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:1.5.12-6_patch_03.ep5.el5`
`apache-cxf` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:2.2.12-12.patch_07.ep5.el6`
`jbossws` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:3.1.2-14.SP15_patch_02.ep5.el6`
`wss4j` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:1.5.12-6_patch_03.ep5.el6`
`apache-cxf` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:2.2.12-12.patch_07.ep5.el5`
`jbossws` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:3.1.2-14.SP15_patch_02.ep5.el5`
`wss4j` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el5	All versions	`0:1.5.12-6_patch_03.ep5.el5`
`apache-cxf` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:2.2.12-12.patch_07.ep5.el6`
`jbossws` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:3.1.2-14.SP15_patch_02.ep5.el6`
`wss4j` Red Hat:jboss_enterprise_web_platform:5::el6	All versions	`0:1.5.12-6_patch_03.ep5.el6`

Products include Apache Cxf, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Application Platform, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Portal Platform, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Soa Platform, Redhat Jboss Enterprise Web Platform, Redhat Jboss Fuse Esb Enterprise.

How do I fix CVE-2012-5575?

Upgrade org.apache.cxf:cxf-rt-transports-http to a fixed version for your release line: 2.5.10, 2.6.7 or 2.7.4.

Is CVE-2012-5575 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-5575 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Apache Cxf vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-7v5v-9v8r-w864, RHSA-2013:0873, RHSA-2013:0874.