# CVE-2018-15444: Cisco Energy Management Suite XML External Entity Vulnerability

> An authenticated attacker can read and write files by tricking a user into importing a malicious XML file in Cisco Energy Management Suite.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Nov 2018
- **Updated:** 26 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mvhv-28qj-949c

## What is CVE-2018-15444?

CVE-2018-15444 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Energy Management Suite, published on 8 Nov 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the web-based user interface of Cisco Energy Management Suite Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to gain read and write access to information that is stored on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to improper handling of XML External Entity (XXE) entries when parsing certain XML files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user of an affected system to import a crafted XML file with malicious entries, which could allow the attacker to read and write files within the affected application.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15444?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Energy Management Suite Software.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-15444?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15444 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-15444 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Energy Management Suite

- [CVE-2018-15445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15445/): Cisco Energy Management Suite Cross-Site Request Forgery Vulnerability (medium 6.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-15444 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-15444 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Energy Management Suite, published on 8 Nov 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15444 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Energy Management Suite. 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-2018-15444/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15444/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-15444
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15444
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-15444

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-15444/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.