CVE-2020-29511 Explained : Impact and Mitigation
Learn about CVE-2020-29511, a critical vulnerability in Go's encoding/xml package allowing attackers to manipulate inputs, impacting downstream applications. Find mitigation steps here.
The encoding/xml package in Go (all versions) has a critical vulnerability that allows attackers to manipulate inputs, leading to conflicting behaviors in downstream applications.
Understanding CVE-2020-29511
This CVE affects the Go programming language, specifically the encoding/xml package.
What is CVE-2020-29511?
The vulnerability in the encoding/xml package of Go allows attackers to create inputs that exhibit conflicting behaviors during different processing stages in downstream applications.
The Impact of CVE-2020-29511
The impact of this vulnerability is rated as critical, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts.
Technical Details of CVE-2020-29511
This section provides detailed technical information about the CVE.
Vulnerability Description
The encoding/xml package in Go fails to preserve element namespace prefixes correctly during tokenization round-trips, enabling attackers to craft conflicting inputs.
Affected Systems and Versions
- Product: Go
- Vendor: Golang
- Versions: All versions
Exploitation Mechanism
Attackers can exploit this vulnerability by manipulating element namespace prefixes in crafted inputs.
Mitigation and Prevention
Protecting systems from CVE-2020-29511 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.
Immediate Steps to Take
- Validate untrusted markup in affected applications using the github.com/mattermost/xml-roundtrip-validator module.
Long-Term Security Practices
- Regularly update and patch affected systems.
- Implement input validation mechanisms to prevent misinterpretation of inputs.
- Monitor and analyze application behavior for unexpected changes.
Patching and Updates
Apply patches and updates provided by the vendor to address the vulnerability.