CVE-2009-3960

Unspecified vulnerability in BlazeDS 3

Verified by Precogs Threat Research
Last Updated: Apr 21, 2026
Base Score
6.5MEDIUM

Executive Summary

CVE-2009-3960 is a medium severity vulnerability affecting appsec. It is classified as an undisclosed flaw. This vulnerability is actively being exploited in the wild.

Precogs AI Insight

"BlazeDS 3 improperly validates XML external entities (XXE) during AMF deserialization, allowing the parsing of malicious entity references. A remote attacker can send a crafted AMF payload to force the server to read arbitrary local files or execute server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks. Precogs AI Analysis Engine identifies unsafe deserialization and XXE injection weaknesses via inter-procedural taint tracking."

Exploit Probability (EPSS)
High (90.4%)
Public POC
Available
Exploit Probability
Low (<10%)
Public POC
Actively Exploited
Affected Assets
appsecNVD Database

What is this vulnerability?

CVE-2009-3960 is categorized as a medium security flaw with a CVSS base score of 6.5. Based on our vulnerability intelligence, this issue occurs when the application fails to securely handle untrusted data boundaries.

Unspecified vulnerability in BlazeDS 3.2 and earlier, as used in LiveCycle 8.0.1, 8.2.1, and 9.0, LiveCycle Data Services 2.5.1, 2.6.1, and 3.0, Flex Data Services 2.0.1, and ColdFusion 7.0.2, 8.0, 8.0.1, and 9.0, allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via vectors that are associated with a request, and related to injected tags and external entity references in XML documents.

This architectural defect enables adversaries to bypass intended security controls, directly manipulating the application's execution state or data layer. Immediate strategic intervention is required.

Risk Assessment

MetricValue
CVSS Base Score6.5 (MEDIUM)
Vector StringCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
PublishedFebruary 15, 2010
Last ModifiedApril 21, 2026
Related CWEsN/A

Impact on Systems

Data Exfiltration: Attackers can extract sensitive data from backend databases, configuration files, or internal services.

Authentication Bypass: Exploiting this flaw may allow unauthorized access to protected resources and administrative interfaces.

Lateral Movement: Once initial access is gained, attackers can pivot to internal systems and escalate privileges.

How to Fix and Mitigate CVE-2009-3960

  1. Apply Vendor Patches Immediately: This vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Apply updates per vendor instructions.
  2. Verify Patch Deployment: Confirm all instances are updated using Precogs continuous monitoring.
  3. Review Audit Logs: Investigate historical access logs for indicators of compromise related to this attack surface.
  4. Implement Defense-in-Depth: Deploy WAF rules, network segmentation, and endpoint detection to limit blast radius.

Defending with Precogs AI

Precogs AI Analysis Engine identifies this vulnerability class through semantic code analysis powered by Code Property Graph (CPG) technology, performing inter-procedural taint tracking to detect injection flaws, broken authentication, and insecure data flows across your entire codebase.

Use Precogs to continuously scan your codebase, binaries, APIs, and infrastructure for this vulnerability class and related attack patterns. Our AI-powered detection engine combines static analysis with threat intelligence to identify exploitable weaknesses before attackers do.

Start scanning with Precogs →

Vulnerability Code Signature

Attack Data Flow

StageDetail
SourceUntrusted User Input
VectorInput flows through the application logic without sanitization
SinkExecution or Rendering Sink
ImpactApplication compromise, Logic Bypass, Data Exfiltration

Vulnerable Code Pattern

# ❌ VULNERABLE: Unsanitized Input Flow
def process_request(request):
    user_input = request.GET.get('data')
    # Taint sink: processing untrusted data
    execute_logic(user_input)
    return {"status": "success"}

Secure Code Pattern

# ✅ SECURE: Input Validation & Sanitization
def process_request(request):
    user_input = request.GET.get('data')
    
    # Sanitized boundary check
    if not is_valid_format(user_input):
        raise ValueError("Invalid input format")
        
    sanitized_data = sanitize(user_input)
    execute_logic(sanitized_data)
    return {"status": "success"}

How Precogs Detects This

Precogs AI Analysis Engine maps untrusted input directly to execution sinks to catch complex application security vulnerabilities.\n

Is your system affected?

Precogs AI detects CVE-2009-3960 in compiled binaries, LLMs, and application layers — even without source code access.