CVE-2017-7536: Privilege Escalation vulnerability in hibernate-validator (Maven)

What is CVE-2017-7536 About?

This vulnerability in Hibernate Validator can lead to a privilege escalation if the security manager grants reflective permissions to access private members. An attacker could exploit this to bypass validation or access private member values. Though specific permissions are required, exploitation could be moderate.

Affected Software

org.hibernate:hibernate-validator
- >5.2.0, <5.2.5.Final
- >5.4.0, <5.4.2.Final
- >5.3.0, <5.3.6.Final

Technical Details

The vulnerability in Hibernate Validator (versions 5.2.x before 5.2.5.Final, 5.3.x before 5.3.6.Final, and 5.4.x before 5.4.2.Final) arises when a Java Security Manager is configured and grants reflective permissions that allow Hibernate Validator to access private members of classes. Under normal circumstances, Hibernate Validator's validation process ensures data integrity. However, if the security manager is improperly configured to grant these specific reflective permissions, an attacker or malicious code can exploit this. The attacker can then deliberately pass an 'invalid' instance to the validator. Due to the granted reflective access, the attacker might be able to circumvent the validation logic or, more critically, use ConstraintViolation#getInvalidValue() to directly access and retrieve the actual private member value of an object, bypassing intended encapsulation and potentially gaining unauthorized information or control.

What is the Impact of CVE-2017-7536?

Successful exploitation may allow attackers to bypass validation rules, access private members of objects, or potentially escalate privileges within the application context.

What is the Exploitability of CVE-2017-7536?

Exploitation of this vulnerability is highly conditional. It critically depends on the Java Security Manager being enabled and specifically configured to grant reflective permissions to Hibernate Validator, allowing it to access private members. Without these specific, likely misconfigured, permissions, the vulnerability cannot be exploited. The attack is local or within the application's runtime context. No remote access is directly implied. The attacker would likely need some level of access to the application's code execution context or the ability to influence object validation. The complexity is moderate to high, as it requires specific runtime environment configurations and potentially deep knowledge of the application's validation flow and the security manager policies. Improperly configured security managers greatly increase the risk.

What are the Known Public Exploits?

PoC Author	Link	Commentary
No known exploits

What are the Available Fixes for CVE-2017-7536?

Available Upgrade Options

org.hibernate:hibernate-validator
- >5.2.0, <5.2.5.Final → Upgrade to 5.2.5.Final
org.hibernate:hibernate-validator
- >5.3.0, <5.3.6.Final → Upgrade to 5.3.6.Final
org.hibernate:hibernate-validator
- >5.4.0, <5.4.2.Final → Upgrade to 5.4.2.Final

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Additional Resources

What are Similar Vulnerabilities to CVE-2017-7536?

Similar Vulnerabilities: CVE-2014-0062 , CVE-2015-5211 , CVE-2016-4977 , CVE-2017-8045 , CVE-2019-10086

CVE-2017-7536 Privilege Escalation vulnerability in hibernate-validator (Maven)