CVE-2024-34711 — gs-web-app
CRITICALCVE-2024-34711 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.3) Information Exposure vulnerability in org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app. A fix is available for org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app — see the affected versions and patch details below.
GeoServer has improper ENTITY_RESOLUTION_ALLOWLIST URI validation in XML Processing (SSRF)
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-34711.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-34711 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app☕org.geoserver.main:gs-mainReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
An improper URI validation vulnerability exists that enables an unauthorized attacker to perform XML External Entities (XEE) attack, then send GET request to any HTTP server. Attacker can abuse this to scan internal networks and gain information about them then exploit further. Moreover, attacker can read limited .xsd file on system.
Details
By default, GeoServer use PreventLocalEntityResolver class from GeoTools to filter out malicious URIs in XML entities before resolving them. The URI must match the regex (?i)(jar:file|http|vfs)[^?#;]*\\.xsd. But the regex leaves a chance for attackers to request to any HTTP server or limited file.
Impact
An unauthenticated attacker can:
- Scan internal network to gain insight about it and exploit further.
- SSRF to endpoint ends with
.xsd. - Read limited
.xsdfile on system.
Mitigation
- Define the system property
ENTITY_RESOLUTION_ALLOWLISTto limit the supported external schema locaitons. - The built-in allow list covers the locations required for the operation of OGC web services:
www.w3.org,schemas.opengis.net,www.opengis.net,inspire.ec.europa.eu/schemas. - The user guide provides details on how to add additional locations (this is required for app-schema plugin where a schema is supplied to define an output format).
Resolution
- GeoServer 2.25.0 and greater default to the use of
ENTITY_RESOLUTION_ALLOWLISTand does not require you to provide a system property. - The use of
ENTITY_RESOLUTION_ALLOWLISTis still supported if you require additional schema locations to be supported beyond the built-in allow list. - GeoServer 2.25.1 change
ENTITY_RESOLUTION_ALLOWLISTno longer supports regular expressions
References
- External Entities Resolution (GeoServer User Guide)
Credits
- Le Mau Anh Phong from VNG Security Response Center & VNUHCM - University of Information Technology
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app | all versions | 2.25.0org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app:2.25.0 |
| ☕Maven | org.geoserver.main:gs-main | all versions | 2.25.0org.geoserver.main:gs-main:2.25.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.geoserver.web:gs-web-app to 2.25.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-34711 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-34711 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-34711. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-34711 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-34711 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.