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A vulnerability chain in LSP4XML, the XML parsing library used by VSCode-XML, Eclipse wildwebdeveloper, Theia XML tooling, and related products, allowed attackers to achieve code execution by luring users into opening a malicious XML file. The first flaw, CVE-2019-18213, was an XXE issue that could be triggered during XML parsing and enabled effects including blind SSRF and NetNTLMv2 credential leakage on Windows systems.
Researchers found a second flaw, CVE-2019-18212, in LSP4XML’s caching logic that allowed path traversal and arbitrary file write in user-accessible directories. By chaining the XXE bug with the file-write weakness, an attacker could place startup or autostart files and gain execution after the victim logged out and back in. The issues were fixed in LSP4XML 0.9.1, and the case highlights how XML parser weaknesses can be combined with server-side request forgery behavior and local file-write primitives to escalate into full compromise.
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2 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
On 2019-10-17, LSP4XML version 0.9.1 was released to address the XXE and path traversal vulnerabilities. The fixes remediated the issues that enabled blind SSRF, NetNTLMv2 exfiltration on Windows, arbitrary file write, and a path to code execution.
In September 2019, researchers identified an XXE issue in LSP4XML tracked as CVE-2019-18213 and a path traversal flaw tracked as CVE-2019-18212. The bugs affected XML tooling used by products including VSCode-XML, Eclipse wildwebdeveloper, and Theia XML tooling, and could be chained toward code execution.
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