# CVE-2017-8056: XML external entity in n/a

> An attacker can cause a denial of service on WatchGuard Firebox devices by sending malicious XML-RPC requests that crash the management agent.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Apr 2017
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pjmc-xjq4-h7jm

## What is CVE-2017-8056?

CVE-2017-8056 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Watchguard Fireware, published on 22 Apr 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

WatchGuard Fireware v11.12.1 and earlier mishandles requests referring to an XML External Entity (XXE), in the XML-RPC agent. This causes the Firebox wgagent process to crash. This process crash ends all authenticated sessions to the Firebox, including management connections, and prevents new authenticated sessions until the process has recovered. The Firebox may also experience an overall degradation in performance while the wgagent process recovers. An attacker could continuously send XML-RPC requests that contain references to external entities to perform a limited Denial of Service (DoS) attack against an affected Firebox.

Weakness: CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-8056?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Watchguard Fireware.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-8056?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-8056 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-8056 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-8056 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2017-8056 XML-RPC Exploit DoS (github_poc): https://github.com/itzexploit/CVE-2017-8056

## Other vulnerabilities in Watchguard Fireware

- [CVE-2022-26318](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-26318/): WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Appliances Arbitrary Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-14733](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14733/): WatchGuard Firebox Out of Bounds Write (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-9242](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-9242/): WatchGuard Firebox Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-23176](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-23176/): WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-31789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31789/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-8056 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-8056 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Watchguard Fireware, published on 22 Apr 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-8056 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Watchguard Fireware. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8056/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8056/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-8056
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-8056
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-8056

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-8056/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.