🛡️ GHSA-9vx8-f5c4-862x — apoc (CVE-2023-23926)

⚪ Unknown ✅ No Known Exploit CWE-611 OSV
N/A
CVSS Score
0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in apoc.import.graphml

Impact

A XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability found in the apoc.import.graphml procedure of APOC core plugin in Neo4j graph database. XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when the XML parser allows external entities to be resolved. The XML parser used by the apoc.import.graphml procedure was not configured in a secure way and therefore allowed this.

External entities can be used to read local files, send HTTP requests, and perform denial-of-service attacks on the application.

Abusing the XXE vulnerability enabled assessors to read local files remotely. Although with the level of privileges assessors had this was limited to one-line files. With the ability to write to the database, any file could have been read. Additionally, assessors noted, with local testing, the server could be crashed by passing in improperly formatted XML.

Patches

The users should aim to use the latest released version compatible with their Neo4j version. The minimum versions containing patch for this vulnerability is 4.4.0.14.

Workarounds

If you cannot upgrade the library, you can control the [allowlist](https://neo4j.com/docs/operations-manual/current/reference/configuration-settings/#config_dbms.security.procedures.allowlist) of the procedures that can be used in your system.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

  • Open an issue in [neo4j-apoc-procedures](https://github.com/neo4j-contrib/neo4j-apoc-procedures)
  • Email us at [security@neo4j.com](mailto:security@neo4j.com)

Credits

We want to publicly recognise the contribution of Christopher Schneider – State Farm.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is high, an attacker needs low-level privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is unchanged, so the impact stays within the vulnerable component. Rated impact: confidentiality low, integrity none, availability high.

Weakness class

GHSA-9vx8-f5c4-862x is classified as CWE-611: XML External Entity Reference (XXE). An XML parser resolves external entities, letting a crafted document read local files or reach internal services.

Affected software

GHSA-9vx8-f5c4-862x is recorded against 1 package.

  • org.neo4j.procedure:apoc (from 5.0.0 up to 5.5.0)

Timeline and source

Published on 24 February 2023 and last revised on 28 November 2024. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

github.com (Web)
github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
github.com (Web)

Details

Severity Unknown
CVSS Score N/A
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
CWE CWE-611
Public Exploit ✅ No
Source OSV
Published 2023-02-24
Updated 2026-08-12
Modified 2024-11-28
Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software From version Fixed in
org.neo4j.procedure:apoc 5.0.0 5.5.0

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