Threats / SAP / CVE-2016-9563
CVE-2016-9563
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
SAP NetWeaver vulnerability
SAP NetWeaver Application Server Java contains an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in the BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component, exploitable by authenticated remote users.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
Authenticated attackers can exploit XXE flaws to read arbitrary files, conduct server-side request forgery, or cause denial of service. The vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation. Patching is recommended for exposed instances.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-034EPSS 0.23805 (verify live)5CVSS 6.5 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: partial3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
3 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.23805 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 6.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) · Affected: SAP, NetWeaver. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-611 XML External Entity (XXE) — weakness family: Web / client.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: partialCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 1806 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I authenticate to the SAP NetWeaver application using valid credentials.
Business
Legitimate user accounts or compromised credentials provide initial access to the application layer.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I craft a malicious XML payload with external entity declarations targeting the BC-BMT-BPM-DSK component.
Business
The application processes untrusted XML without proper entity resolution controls.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I retrieve sensitive files from the server filesystem or trigger internal network requests via XXE exploitation.
Business
Confidential data exposure or lateral movement within the enterprise network becomes possible.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05