XML External Entity Injection in Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Data Integration

Compliance Impact

CVE-2026-2253 involves improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) references, which can allow an attacker to cause the application to make unauthorized external HTTP requests. This behavior can potentially lead to data exposure or unauthorized data access.

Such vulnerabilities may impact compliance with standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require protection of sensitive data and prevention of unauthorized data disclosure. Exploitation of this vulnerability could undermine these requirements by enabling data leakage or bypassing security controls.

To maintain compliance, it is recommended to upgrade to the fixed versions of the software where this vulnerability is addressed.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves the improper restriction of XML External Entity (XXE) references, where the application processes XML documents containing external entity URIs that cause outgoing HTTP requests.

Detection on your network or system can involve monitoring for unusual outgoing HTTP requests initiated by the Pentaho Data Integration & Analytics application, especially those triggered by XML processing.

You can use network monitoring tools or commands to detect such behavior, for example:

• Use tcpdump or Wireshark to capture outgoing HTTP requests from the server running Pentaho.
• Example tcpdump command: tcpdump -i <interface> host <pentaho_server_ip> and tcp port 80 or 443
• Check application logs for XML processing errors or unexpected external entity resolution attempts.
• Use tools like grep to search for XML files or logs containing DOCTYPE declarations or external entity references.

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Mitigation Strategies

The recommended immediate mitigation step is to upgrade Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Data Integration & Analytics to the latest release or service pack where this vulnerability is fixed.

Until the upgrade can be performed, consider restricting the application’s ability to make outgoing HTTP requests to untrusted external entities by applying network-level controls such as firewall rules.

Additionally, review and harden XML parser configurations to disable external entity resolution if possible.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists in Hitachi Vantara Pentaho Data Integration & Analytics versions before 10.2.0.7 and 11.0.0.0, including versions 9.3.x and 8.3.x. It involves certain XML parsers that do not prevent the resolution of external entities, which can lead to security issues.

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Impact Analysis

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7, indicating a high severity. It allows an attacker with low privileges and no user interaction to exploit the system remotely over the network. The impact is primarily on confidentiality, potentially allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data through the resolution of external XML entities.

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