Summary A GeoServer that uses ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST may allow attacker to perform unauthenticated Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF).

Details This vulnerability requires that GeoServer is set up to use a proxy base URL and the ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST (default since 2.25.0):

Impact This vulnerability allows an attacker to cause GeoServer to make requests to an unintended location.

Workaround GeoServer installations are only affected by this vulnerability if they use a proxy base URL that does not contain a URL path or end with a slash (e.g., https://somesite.org instead of https://somesite.org/ or https://somesite.org/geoserver). If the proxy base URL does not contain a path, adding a slash to the end of the URL will mitigate this vulnerability.

Resources https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11867 https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/8622

Credits: - Le Mau Anh Phong at Verichains Cyber Force

Summary A vulnerability exists that allows an authenticated administrator with access to GeoServer's security system to pass arbitrary file names to the Master Password Dump web page and create files containing the master password in plaintext. The provided file name must be an absolute path to the target file, the target file can not already exist and all parent directories must already exist.

Details When dumping the master password, GeoServer will use the provided file name with minimal validation as long as it is a java.io.File path. The only limitation is that the fix for a previous, unrelated vulnerability prevents relative path traversal here but absolute paths can be used to access arbitrary files. GeoServer does not enforce a maximum password length by default which allows an administrator to place malicious code into their password which could then be dumped into a JSP file.

Impact Remote Code Execution (High severity) This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code if GeoServer is deployed in an environment where an attacker can dynamically deploy and execute a JSP file. This is possible if the geoserver.war file is simply placed into the webapps directory of a default Tomcat installation.

NTLM Hash Disclosure (Moderate severity) If GeoServer is deployed in a Windows operating system and the GeoServer administrator does not already have access to the Windows account running the GeoServer process, it may be possible for the administrator to make GeoServer trigger an outbound NTLM request to a remote, attacker-controlled server and gain access to the NTLM hash or user password for use in future attacks.

Denial of Service (Low severity) This vulnerability allows writing a file to any location where the GeoServer process has write permissions which could still potentially cause some kind of denial of service.

Mitigation GeoServer installations where the web interface is either disabled or completely removed are not affected since the vulnerability exists in one of the web pages.

Resources https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11852 https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/8584

Summary

Administrator can perform JNDI attack through specially crafted DB2 jdbc url leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE).

Impact

If GeoServer has DB2 extension installed, this vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code.

Details

Authenticated users can access Vector Data Sources page to creating a new data store through db2 jdbc connection, performing JNDI attack due to unrestricted connection parameters, and then achieve RCE with deserialization of untrusted data.

Remediation

This issue has been fixed in this release: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/releases/tag/2.27.0.

References

https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOT-7725 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/cve-2023-27867

MapServer is a system for developing web-based GIS applications. From 6.4.0 to before 8.6.3, msSLDParseUserStyle always calls SLDApplyRuleValues(psRule, psLayer, 1); for any <Rule> carrying <ElseFilter/> — it assumes msSLDParseRule added one class. When the rule has no symbolizer (a structurally valid SLD), msSLDParseRule adds zero, and SLDApplyRuleValues ends up indexing class[-1], resulting in a NULL pointer dereference. A 200-byte well-formed SLD via the WMS SLDBODY= parameter is enough to trigger this, no auth required. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.6.3.

In GDAL 3.1.0 through 3.13.0, scanForGeometryContainers in the netCDF driver allows code execution via a stack-based buffer overflow. It reads a geometry attribute into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating the attribute length. The attacker embeds the exploit as an oversized geometry attribute in a crafted NetCDF file. This achieves arbitrary code execution on the server running GDAL. This is in frmts/netcdf/netcdfsg.cpp.

A vulnerability has been found in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. Affected by this issue is the function GDSDfldsrch of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/GDapi.c of the component Grid File Handler. The manipulation leads to heap-based buffer overflow. An attack has to be approached locally. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 3.13.0RC1 can resolve this issue. The identifier of the patch is 3e04c0385630e4d42517046d9a4967dfccfeb7fd. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

A flaw has been found in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function SWSDfldsrch of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/SWapi.c. Executing a manipulation can lead to heap-based buffer overflow. The attack requires local access. The exploit has been published and may be used. Upgrading to version 3.13.0RC1 addresses this issue. This patch is called 3e04c0385630e4d42517046d9a4967dfccfeb7fd. The affected component should be upgraded.

MapServer is a system for developing web-based GIS applications. From version 6.0 to before version 8.6.2, a reflected XSS vulnerability in MapServer's WMS server allows an unauthenticated attacker to inject arbitrary HTML/JavaScript into the browser of any user who opens a crafted WMS URL. The vulnerability is triggered via FORMAT=application/openlayers combined with an unsanitized SRS parameter in WMS 1.3.0 requests. This issue has been patched in version 8.6.2.

A weakness has been identified in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. The affected element is the function GDfieldinfo of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/GDapi.c. Executing a manipulation can lead to out-of-bounds read. The attack needs to be launched locally. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks. Upgrading to version 3.13.0RC1 is sufficient to fix this issue. This patch is called a791f70f8eaec540974ec989ca6fb00266b7646c. The affected component should be upgraded.

A security flaw has been discovered in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. Impacted is the function GDnentries of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/GDapi.c. Performing a manipulation of the argument DataFieldName results in heap-based buffer overflow. The attack must be initiated from a local position. The exploit has been released to the public and may be used for attacks. Upgrading to version 3.13.0RC1 is recommended to address this issue. The patch is named 184f77dbcc74118c062c05e464c88161d3c37b9b. You should upgrade the affected component.

A vulnerability was identified in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. This issue affects the function SWnentries of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/SWapi.c. Such manipulation of the argument DimensionName leads to heap-based buffer overflow. The attack must be carried out locally. The exploit is publicly available and might be used. Upgrading to version 3.12.4RC1 is capable of addressing this issue. The name of the patch is 9491e794f1757f08063ea2f7a274ad2994afa636. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

A vulnerability was determined in OSGeo gdal up to 3.13.0dev-4. This vulnerability affects the function memmove of the file frmts/hdf4/hdf-eos/SWapi.c of the component HDF-EOS Grid File Handler. This manipulation causes out-of-bounds read. The attack is restricted to local execution. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized. Upgrading to version 3.13.0RC1 is able to resolve this issue. Patch name: a791f70f8eaec540974ec989ca6fb00266b7646c. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

MapServer is a system for developing web-based GIS applications. Starting in version 4.2 and prior to version 8.6.1, a heap-buffer-overflow write in MapServer’s SLD (Styled Layer Descriptor) parser lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker crash the MapServer process by sending a crafted SLD with more than 100 Threshold elements inside a ColorMap/Categorize structure (commonly reachable via WMS GetMap with SLDBODY). Version 8.6.1 patches the issue.

Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer vulnerability in OSGeo gdal (frmts/zlib/contrib/infback9 modules). This vulnerability is associated with program files inftree9.C‎.

This issue affects gdal: before 3.11.0.

Geonetwork 3.10 through 4.2.0 contains an XML external entity vulnerability in PDF rendering that allows attackers to retrieve arbitrary files from the server. Attackers can exploit the insecure XML parser by crafting a malicious XML document with external entity references to read system files through the baseURL parameter in PDF creation requests.

Description

An XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability was identified. The application accepts XML input through a specific endpoint /geoserver/wms operation GetMap. However, this input is not sufficiently sanitized or restricted, allowing an attacker to define external entities within the XML request.

An XML External Entity attack is a type of attack that occurs when XML input containing a reference to an external entity is processed by a weakly configured XML parser. This attack may lead to the disclosure of confidential data, denial of service, port scanning from the perspective of the machine where the parser is located, and other system impacts.

By exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can: - Read arbitrary files from the server's file system. - Conduct Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) to interact with internal systems. - Execute Denial of Service (DoS) attacks by exhausting resources.

Resolution

Update to GeoServer 2.25.6, GeoServer 2.26.3, or GeoServer 2.27.0.

Impact

The XXE vulnerability can be used to retrieve arbitrary files from the server's file system.

Reference

https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11682 XBOW-024-081

Disclaimer

This vulnerability was detected using XBOW, a system that autonomously finds and exploits potential security vulnerabilities. The finding has been thoroughly reviewed and validated by a security researcher before submission. While XBOW is intended to work autonomously, during its development human experts ensure the accuracy and relevance of its reports.

MapServer is a system for developing web-based GIS applications. Prior to 8.4.1, the XML Filter Query directive PropertyName is vulnerably to Boolean-based SQL injection. It seems like expression checking is bypassed by introducing double quote characters in the PropertyName. Allowing to manipulate backend database queries. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.4.1.

A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in SpatialReference.org (OSGeo/spatialreference.org) versions prior to 2025-05-17 (commit 2120adfa17ddd535bd0f539e6c4988fa3a2cb491). The vulnerability is caused by improper handling of user input in the search query parameter. An attacker can craft a specially formed URL with malicious JavaScript code, which is then reflected back and executed in the victim's browser. This flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the victim's session, potentially leading to session hijacking, phishing attacks, data theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The issue is exposed on publicly accessible pages, making it exploitable by an unauthenticated attacker.

Summary

GeoServer Web Feature Service (WFS) web service was found to be vulnerable to GeoTools CVE-2025-30220 XML External Entity (XXE) processing attack.

It is possible to trigger the parsing of external DTDs and entities, bypassing standard entity resolvers. This allows for Out-of-Band (OOB) data exfiltration of local files accessible by the GeoServer process, and Service Side Request Forgery (SSRF).

Details

While direct entity resolution is managed by application property ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST for XML Parsing, this restriction was not being used by the GeoTools library when building an in-memory XSD Library Schema representation.

This bypasses GeoServer's AllowListEntityResolver enabling XXE attacks.

PoC

No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS service.

Impact

Information Disclosure:

This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files from the server's filesystem that are accessible to the GeoServer process. This can lead to exposure of sensitive information including configuration files, credentials, and system files. The attack can be performed remotely without authentication, making it particularly severe.

Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) The mechanism inherently allows forcing GeoServer to make HTTP requests to arbitrary URLs, enabling SSRF attacks against internal network resources

References

CVE-2025-30220 XML External Entity (XXE) Processing Vulnerability in XSD schema handling External Entities Resolution (GeoServer User Manual)

Acknowledgements

This vulnerability was initially reported via an automated tool described below. Subsequently a duplicate report via @YacineF, and their patience working with the GeoServer project, was instrumental finding in escalating this issue and determining a resolution.

XBOW-025-068 Disclaimer

This vulnerability was detected using XBOW, a system that autonomously finds and exploits potential security vulnerabilities. The finding has been thoroughly reviewed and validated by a security researcher before submission. While XBOW is intended to work autonomously, during its development human experts ensure the accuracy and relevance of its reports.

Summary Malicious Jiffle scripts can be executed by GeoServer, either as a rendering transformation in WMS dynamic styles or as a WPS process, that can enter an infinite loop to trigger denial of service.

Details The Jiffle language supports multiple loop constructs that will cause its code block to be continuously executed until a certain condition is met. The Jiffle runtime should be updated to throw an exception if the script exceeds a certain number of loop iterations.

Impact This vulnerability allows attackers to conduct denial-of-service attacks.

Mitigation This vulnerability can be mitigated by disabling WMS dynamic styling (see WMS Settings). If the WPS extension is installed, the Jiffle process must also be disabled to mitigate this vulnerability (see WPS Settings)

References https://github.com/geosolutions-it/jai-ext/pull/307 https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11778

Summary It is possible to bypass the default REST API security and access the index page.

Details The REST API security handles rest and its subpaths but not rest with an extension (e.g., rest.html).

Impact The REST API index can disclose whether certain extensions are installed.

Workaround In ${GEOSERVERDATADIR}/security/config.xml, change the paths for the rest filter to /rest.,/rest/ and change the paths for the gwc filter to /gwc/rest.,/gwc/rest/ and restart GeoServer.

References https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11664 https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11776 https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/8170

Summary

The Coverage rest api /workspaces/{workspaceName}/coveragestores/{storeName}/{method}.{format} allow to upload file with a specified url (with {method} equals 'url') with no restrict.

Details

The Coverage rest api /workspaces/{workspaceName}/coveragestores/{storeName}/{method}.{format} allow to upload file with a specified url (with {method} equals 'url'). But this url has not been check with URL Checks feature.

For example, should add the code below to check fileURL:

java URLCheckers.confirm(fileURL)

The vulnerable code was RESTUtils.java

Impact

This vulnerability presents the opportunity for Server Side Request Forgery.

References

- https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11468 - https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11717

Summary The GeoWebCache home page includes version and revision information about the software in use. This information is sensitive from a security point of view because it allows software used by the server to be easily identified.

Details org.geowebcache.GeoWebCacheDispatcher.handleFrontPage(HttpServletRequest, HttpServletResponse) has no check to hide potentially sensitive information from users except for a hidden system property to hide the storage locations that defaults to showing the locations.

PoC Just open http://localhost:8080/geoserver/gwc/

Impact In addition to exposing the version and revision information, the home page will expose the config file and storage locations which may expose the system's temp directory location and whether or not GeoServer is running in a Windows operating system. The approximate server start time and some basic GWC usage information is also exposed.

References https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11677 https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/8189 https://github.com/GeoWebCache/geowebcache/issues/1344 https://github.com/GeoWebCache/geowebcache/pull/1345

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: 1. Scan internal network to gain insight about it and exploit further. 2. SSRF to endpoint ends with .xsd. 3. Read limited .xsd file on system.

Mitigation

1. Define the system property ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST to limit the supported external schema locaitons. 2. 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. 3. 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

1. GeoServer 2.25.0 and greater default to the use of ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST and does not require you to provide a system property. 2. The use of ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST is still supported if you require additional schema locations to be supported beyond the built-in allow list. 3. GeoServer 2.25.1 change ENTITYRESOLUTIONALLOWLIST no 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

Summary

It possible to achieve Service Side Request Forgery (SSRF) via the Demo request endpoint if Proxy Base URL has not been set.

Details

A unauthenticated user can supply a request that will be issued by the server. This can be used to enumerate internal networks and also in the case of cloud instances can be used to obtain sensitive data.

Mitigation

1. When using GeoServer with a proxy, manage the proxy base value as a system administrator, use the application property PROXYBASEURL to provide a non-empty value that cannot be overridden by the user interface or incoming request.

2. When using GeoServer directly without a proxy, block all access to TestWfsPost by editing the web.xml file. Adding this block right before the end:

xml <security-constraint> <web-resource-collection> <web-resource-name>BlockDemoRequests</web-resource-name> <url-pattern>/TestWfsPost/</url-pattern> </web-resource-collection> <auth-constraint> <role-name>BLOCKED</role-name> </auth-constraint> </security-constraint>

Resolution

Upgrading to GeoServer 2.24.4, or 2.25.2, removes the TestWfsPost servlet resolving this issue.

The demo request page functionality is now implemented directly in the browser.

Reference

- https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11794 - https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11390 - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-40822

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in gdal 3.10.2 allows a local attacker to cause a denial of service via the OGRSpatialReference::Release function. NOTE: the Supplier indicates that the report is invalid and could not be reproduced.

Impact

The search end-point response headers contain information about Elasticsearch software in use. This information is sensitive from a security point of view because it allows software used by the server to be easily identified.

Patches

GeoNetwork 4.4.5 / 4.2.10

Workarounds

None

References - CVE-2024-32037 - Search service

Credits

- Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, The Netherlands.

Impact

The welcome and about page includes version and revision information about the software in use (including library and components used).

This information is sensitive from a security point of view because it allows software used by the server to be easily identified.

Proof of Concept

1. Welcome page footer: <img width="432" alt="image" src="https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/assets/629681/a7fd5151-55d5-432b-9d5d-79136833609f">

2. About page build information.

<img width="401" alt="image" src="https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/assets/629681/59fcd8dd-eaee-4bf8-9578-a2a94b2864db">

Patches

No patch presently available.

Workarounds

No workaround available, although the ADMINCONSOLE can be disabled completely.

References

About GeoServer

Summary Multiple OGC request parameters allow Remote Code Execution (RCE) by unauthenticated users through specially crafted input against a default GeoServer installation due to unsafely evaluating property names as XPath expressions.

Details The GeoTools library API that GeoServer calls evaluates property/attribute names for feature types in a way that unsafely passes them to the commons-jxpath library which can execute arbitrary code when evaluating XPath expressions. This XPath evaluation is intended to be used only by complex feature types (i.e., Application Schema data stores) but is incorrectly being applied to simple feature types as well which makes this vulnerability apply to ALL GeoServer instances.

PoC No public PoC is provided but this vulnerability has been confirmed to be exploitable through WFS GetFeature, WFS GetPropertyValue, WMS GetMap, WMS GetFeatureInfo, WMS GetLegendGraphic and WPS Execute requests.

Impact This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code.

Workaround

A workaround exists by removing the gt-complex-x.y.jar file from the GeoServer where x.y is the GeoTools version (e.g., gt-complex-31.1.jar if running GeoServer 2.25.1). This will remove the vulnerable code from GeoServer but may break some GeoServer functionality or prevent GeoServer from deploying if the gt-complex module is needed by an extension you are using:

Mitigation for geoserver.war deploy:

1. Stop the application server 2. Unzip geoserver.war into a directory 3. Locate the file WEB-INF/lib/gt-complex-x.y.jar and remove 4. Zip the directory into a new geoserver.war 5. Restart the application server

Mitigation for GeoServer binary:

1. Stop Jetty 2. Locate the file webapps/geoserver/WEB-INF/lib/gt-complex-x.y.jar and remove 3. Restart Jetty

The following extensions and community modules are known to have a direct dependency on gt-complex jar and are not expected function properly without it. This is not comprehensive list and additional GeoServer functionality may be dependent on the availability of gt-complex jar: Extensions: Application Schema, Catalog Services for the Web, MongoDB Data Store Community Modules: Features-Templating, OGC API Modules, Smart Data Loader, SOLR Data Store

Mitigation available for prior releases patching three jars in your existing install:

1. Patched gt-app-schema, gt-complex and gt-xsd-core jars may be downloaded for GeoServer: 2.25.1, 2.24.3, 2.24.2, 2.23.2, 2.22.2, 2.21.5, 2.21.4,2.20.7, 2.20.4, 2.19.2, 2.18.0. As example the 2.25.1 page links to geoserver-2.25.1-patches.zip download on source forge.

2. Unzip the geoserver-x.y.z-patches.zip which contains three jars that have been patched to configure commons-jxpath with an empty function list prior to use. These files are drop-in replacements with identical file names to those they are replacing.

3. Follow the instructions above to locate WEB-INF/lib folder and replace the existing gt-app-schema, gt-complex and gt-xsd-core jars with those supplied by the patch.

References https://github.com/geotools/geotools/security/advisories/GHSA-w3pj-wh35-fq8w https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOT-7587 https://github.com/geotools/geotools/pull/4797 https://github.com/Warxim/CVE-2022-41852?tab=readme-ov-file#workaround-for-cve-2022-41852

Summary

The OGC Web Processing Service (WPS) specification is designed to process information from any server using GET and POST requests.

This presents the opportunity for Server Side Request Forgery.

Details

This vulnerability requires:

The WPS extension to be installed The WPS security setting "Disable complex inputs" to be unselected Security URL checks to be disabled

Impact

This vulnerability presents the opportunity for Server Side Request Forgery.

Mitigation

The ability to reference an external URL location is defined by the WPS standard Execute operation. This operations is defined by an Industry and International standard and cannot be redefined by the GeoServer application in isolation.

To disable complex remote inputs on GeoServer 2.20.5 and GeoServer 2.21.0:

1. Navigate to Security > WPS Security page 2. Locate Complex Inputs heading 3. Select the check box for Disable loading complex inputs from remote references

Resolution

To allow processing of complex inputs safely in GeoServer 2.22.5 and GeoServer 2.23.2:

1. Navigate to Security > URL Checks 2. Enable URL Checks are enabled setting 3. Check the user manual for examples of how to trust specific locations for your external services.

Processing of complex inputs safely is on by default in GeoServer 2.24.0.

References

Complex Inputs URL Checks