# CVE-2018-17889: XML external entity in PI Studio

> An attacker can exploit XML external entity injection in WECON PI Studio to disclose sensitive information by tricking a user into opening a malicious project file.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Oct 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8j9h-qgqg-vvwq

## What is CVE-2018-17889?

CVE-2018-17889 is a medium-severity vulnerability in WECON PI Studio, published on 8 Oct 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In WECON Technology Co., Ltd. PI Studio HMI versions 4.1.9 and prior and PI Studio versions 4.2.34 and prior when parsing project files, the XMLParser that ships with Wecon PIStudio is vulnerable to a XML external entity injection attack, which may allow sensitive information disclosure.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-17889?

It affects 2 products.


Products: We-Con Pi Studio, We-Con Pi Studio Hmi.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-17889?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-17889 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-17889 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-17889 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in WECON PI Studio

- [CVE-2018-14818](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14818/): Memory corruption in PI Studio (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-14810](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14810/): Memory corruption in PI Studio (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-14814](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-14814/): Information disclosure in WECON Technology PI Studio HMI (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-17889 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-17889 is a medium-severity vulnerability in WECON PI Studio, published on 8 Oct 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-17889 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: WECON PI Studio. 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-2018-17889/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17889/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17889
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-17889
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-17889

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17889/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.