OpenStack Swift XML external entities (XXE) Injection

Description

An issue was discovered in OpenStack Swift before 2.28.1, 2.29.x before 2.29.2, and 2.30.0. By supplying crafted XML files, an authenticated user may coerce the S3 API into returning arbitrary file contents from the host server, resulting in unauthorized read access to potentially sensitive data. This impacts both s3api deployments (Rocky or later), and swift3 deployments (Queens and earlier, no longer actively developed).

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
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Repository advisory
Source code
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Published (advisory)
2023-01-18 18:30:16 UTC
Updated
2025-04-04 19:35:42 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2024-05-14 21:30:33 UTC
NVD published
2023-01-18

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.23% 45.99%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
6.5 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-552 Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
CWE-611 Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference

Affected packages (3)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
pip swift < 2.28.1 2.28.1
pip swift >= 2.29.0, < 2.29.2 2.29.2
pip swift = 2.30.0 2.30.1

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence