Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Some older Apache UIMA components could parse malicious or tainted XML in a way that exposes local files or internal content. The main business concern is data disclosure from systems using affected UIMA versions, especially where XML can come from users, integrations, or shared storage.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted remediation item for systems using Apache UIMA. It is not listed as actively exploited in the provided evidence, but affected deployments that process external XML carry data disclosure risk.
Technical view
CVE-2017-15691 is an XML External Entity expansion issue affecting Apache uimaj, uima-as, uimaFIT, and uimaDUCC versions listed before their fixed releases. UIMA may read XML during configuration and operation; tainted XML could cause inadvertent disclosure of local files or internal content.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in applications or pipelines running affected Apache UIMA components and processing XML from untrusted, user-controlled, partner, or indirectly writable sources.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation depends on an attacker influencing XML consumed by affected UIMA parsers and obtaining resulting disclosed content.
Researcher notes
Evidence is concise and does not include CVSS, CWE, exploit details, or parser-specific fix mechanics. Analysis should stay focused on version exposure, XML trust boundaries, and whether UIMA configuration or operational XML can be tainted.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected Apache UIMA components to the fixed versions or later.
- Prioritize uimaj, uima-as, uimaFIT, and uimaDUCC inventories.
- Limit untrusted XML ingestion until affected components are upgraded.
- Review Apache and downstream vendor guidance before changing parser behavior.
- Track Red Hat advisory applicability for packaged deployments.
Validation and detection
- Inventory deployed Apache UIMA component names and versions.
- Check for uimaj before 2.10.2 or 3.0.0-beta.
- Check for uima-as before 2.10.2.
- Check for uimaFIT before 2.4.0 and uimaDUCC before 2.2.2.
- Identify workflows where UIMA reads externally supplied XML.
- Review logs or data paths for unexpected local file disclosure indicators.
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.
CVE-2017-15691 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
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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 and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://uima.apache.org/security_report#CVE-2017-15691CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- [uima-commits] 20190501 svn commit: r1858489 - in /uima/site/trunk/uima-website: docs/security_report.html xdocs/security_report.xmlCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
- RHSA-2019:1545CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
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.