Medium

XSS in Apache CXF HTTP transport service listing page

IdentifiersCVE-2016-6812CWE-79· Improper Neutralization of Input…

CVE-2016-6812 is a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in the Apache CXF HTTP transport module affecting versions prior to 3.0.12 and 3.1.x prior to 3.1.9. Apache CXF uses FormattedServiceListWriter to generate an HTML page listing available service names and their absolute endpoint URLs. The base URL for those links is derived from the current HttpServletRequest. If an attacker injects unexpected matrix parameters into the request URL, those parameters can be incorporated into the calculated base URL and reflected back into the generated services list page without proper neutralization, creating an XSS condition in the HTML response.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows attacker-controlled content embedded in matrix parameters of the request URL to be reflected in the Apache CXF services list page rendered to a client. This can result in execution of arbitrary script in the victim's browser in the security context of the affected application, enabling session theft, credential capture, DOM manipulation, phishing, or other client-side actions available through XSS.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable or restrict access to the CXF service listing page where feasible, especially from untrusted networks. Reduce exposure by preventing external users from reaching service metadata/listing endpoints, and apply input validation or URL normalization at reverse proxies or application gateways to strip unexpected matrix parameters from inbound requests. Standard browser-side defenses such as CSP may reduce impact but do not replace patching.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Apache CXF to 3.0.12 or later on the 3.0 branch, or 3.1.9 or later on the 3.1 branch, where the handling of the generated service listing page was corrected to prevent untrusted matrix parameters from being reflected into the HTML output.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 1 candidate as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 1 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

Apache Software FoundationCxfapplication

Apache Software FoundationCxf-Coreapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

1 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

1 SOURCESView more in app

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity1