Remote Code Execution (RCE) is possible via Velocity Templates used by DSpace for COAR Notify/LDN messages. This vulnerability impacts DSpace versions 8.0 <= 8.3, 9.0 <= 9.2. The attacker MUST already have DSpace administrator credentials in order to perform the attack.
This attack is related to the path traversal attack identified in GHSA-9qm4-rh6w-pq5x as it was the impactful part of the "proof-of-concept" attack chain.
When chained with the LDN Path Traversal Attack identified in GHSA-9qm4-rh6w-pq5x, it may be possible to execute Java directly from Velocity templates using reflection. This is a very high impact vulnerability, but the attack can only be performed by a user that has DSpace Administrator privileges. Disabling LDN (see below) removes all known attack paths.
Velocity is also used for email templating, but there is no known attack path via emails templates. Nonetheless, the patches below also apply to email templates.
The fix is included in DSpace 8.4, 9.3 and 10.0. Please upgrade to one of these versions or disable LDN (see below)
If users cannot upgrade immediately, it is possible to manually patch their DSpace backend. (No changes are necessary to the frontend.) A pull request exists which can be used to patch systems running DSpace 8.x or 9.x.
If at all possible, DSpace project maintainers recommend disabling LDN (see below) or upgrading a DSpace site...
10.0-rc110.08.49.3Exploitability
AV:NAC:HPR:HUI:NScope
S:CImpact
C:HI:HA:H8.0/CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HInjection