Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2016-7043 exposes stored usernames and passwords in plaintext Java properties in KIE server and Business Central before 7.21.0.Final. The main business risk is credential disclosure: another application on the same server could read those properties and use them to access related services.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate confidentiality risk. Prioritize remediation where affected KIE services share servers with other applications or protect sensitive business processes.
Technical view
The issue is a CWE-260 password-in-configuration flaw affecting KIE kie-server versions before 7.21.0.Final, with the description also naming Business Central. CVSS 3.0 is 5.9: network reachable, high attack complexity, no privileges or user interaction, and high confidentiality impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in older KIE server or Business Central deployments before 7.21.0.Final, especially where multiple applications share the same server or runtime container.
Exploitation context
The CVE is not listed in KEV, and the provided sources do not report active exploitation. The described abuse depends on another application being deployed on the same server and able to read Java properties.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE description, Red Hat Bugzilla reference, and KIE GitHub pull request. The affected CPE list is empty, so validate product names and supported remediation directly against vendor records.
Mitigation direction
- Identify KIE server and Business Central deployments older than 7.21.0.Final.
- Review vendor guidance from Red Hat or KIE for the supported fix path.
- Upgrade affected deployments to 7.21.0.Final or later where applicable.
- Avoid co-locating untrusted applications on the same server as affected services.
- Rotate credentials that may have been exposed through plaintext properties.
Validation and detection
- Inventory deployed KIE server and Business Central versions.
- Check whether affected servers host other applications in the same runtime.
- Verify credentials are not present as plaintext Java properties after remediation.
- Review access logs for suspicious use of related service credentials.
- Confirm credential rotation completed for exposed service accounts.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-260: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCredential and access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references authentication or credential exposure, so valid-account and credential-access review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2016-7043 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.9 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N2.23.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
5.9MediumVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2016-7043CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/kiegroup/droolsjbpm-integration/pull/1273CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Password in Configuration File
Password in Configuration File represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.