# CVE-2021-32754: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in de.tud.sse

> An attacker controlling the XML source/sink definition file can read external files via XXE in FlowDroid.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Jul 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024

## What is CVE-2021-32754?

CVE-2021-32754 is a medium-severity vulnerability in secure-software-engineering FlowDroid, published on 12 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

FlowDroid is a data flow analysis tool. FlowDroid versions prior to 2.9.0 contained an XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability that allowed an attacker who had control over the source/sink definition file in XML format to read files from external locations. In order for this to occur, the XML-based format for sources and sinks had to be used and the attacker had to able control the source/sink definition file. The vulnerability was patched in version 2.9.0. As a workaround, do not allow untrusted entities to control the source/sink definition file.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-32754?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Flowdroid Project Flowdroid.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-32754?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-32754 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-32754 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32754 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-32754 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-32754 is a medium-severity vulnerability in secure-software-engineering FlowDroid, published on 12 Jul 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-32754 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: secure-software-engineering FlowDroid. 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-2021-32754/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32754/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32754
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32754
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-32754

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32754/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.