CVE-2025-58748: Dataease JDBC URL Validation RCE Flaw

CVE-2025-58748 Overview

CVE-2025-58748 is an insecure deserialization vulnerability affecting Dataease, an open source data analytics and visualization platform. The vulnerability exists in the H2 data source implementation (H2.java) which fails to verify that a provided JDBC URL begins with jdbc:h2. This insufficient validation enables attackers to craft a malicious JDBC configuration that substitutes the Amazon Redshift driver and exploits the socketFactory and socketFactoryArg parameters to invoke Spring's FileSystemXmlApplicationContext or ClassPathXmlApplicationContext with an attacker-controlled remote XML resource, ultimately achieving remote code execution.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can exploit this JDBC URL validation bypass to achieve remote code execution on Dataease servers by loading malicious XML application contexts from attacker-controlled resources.

Affected Products

• Dataease versions up to and including 2.10.12
• Dataease data source configurations using the H2 database driver
• All deployments with user access to data source configuration functionality

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-09-15 - CVE-2025-58748 published to NVD
• 2025-09-19 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-58748

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data) in the Dataease H2 data source handler. The H2.java implementation lacks proper validation of JDBC connection URLs, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary JDBC drivers and parameters. By substituting the expected H2 JDBC driver with the Amazon Redshift driver and manipulating the socketFactory and socketFactoryArg parameters, an attacker can force the application to instantiate Spring application context classes with attacker-controlled XML configuration files.

When FileSystemXmlApplicationContext or ClassPathXmlApplicationContext is invoked with a remote XML resource, Spring processes the XML configuration which can contain arbitrary bean definitions, including those that execute system commands or establish reverse shells. This attack chain transforms a simple input validation oversight into a complete system compromise vector.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of JDBC URL prefix validation in the H2.java data source implementation. The code processed JDBC URLs without confirming they matched the expected jdbc:h2 format, allowing attackers to inject entirely different JDBC driver configurations. This oversight enabled driver substitution attacks where legitimate-looking data source configurations actually loaded malicious components.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires low-privilege authentication. An attacker with access to Dataease's data source configuration functionality can create or modify an H2 data source with a crafted JDBC URL. This URL specifies the Redshift driver and includes socketFactory=org.springframework.context.support.FileSystemXmlApplicationContext with socketFactoryArg pointing to an attacker-hosted malicious XML file. When the application processes this data source connection, it loads and executes the remote XML application context, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the server.

// Security patch from core/core-backend/src/main/java/io/dataease/datasource/type/H2.java
                DEException.throwException("Has illegal parameter: " + jdbc);
            }
        }
-
+       if (!getJdbcUrl().startsWith("jdbc:h2")) {
+           DEException.throwException("Illegal jdbcUrl: " + getJdbcUrl());
+       }
        return jdbc;
    }

Source: GitHub Commit

The patch adds explicit validation to ensure the JDBC URL starts with jdbc:h2, preventing driver substitution attacks.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-58748

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual JDBC URLs in data source configurations that do not start with jdbc:h2
• Network connections to external hosts during data source connection attempts
• References to socketFactory or socketFactoryArg parameters in H2 data source configurations
• Outbound HTTP/HTTPS requests to unknown external XML resources from the Dataease server

Detection Strategies

• Monitor data source configuration changes for JDBC URLs containing unexpected driver references (e.g., Redshift driver in H2 configurations)
• Implement file integrity monitoring on Dataease configuration files and the H2.java class
• Deploy network monitoring to detect outbound connections during database connection establishment
• Review application logs for FileSystemXmlApplicationContext or ClassPathXmlApplicationContext instantiation errors

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerting for data source modifications by non-administrative users
• Enable verbose logging for database connection establishment in Dataease
• Monitor for process spawning from the Dataease application server context
• Implement egress filtering to prevent the application server from accessing arbitrary external resources

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-58748

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Dataease to version 2.10.13 or later immediately
• Audit all existing H2 data source configurations for suspicious JDBC URLs
• Review data source access permissions and restrict to trusted administrators
• Implement network segmentation to limit Dataease server outbound connectivity

Patch Information

The vulnerability is fixed in Dataease version 2.10.13. The fix adds explicit validation to ensure JDBC URLs in the H2 data source implementation begin with jdbc:h2, preventing driver substitution attacks. Users should upgrade to version 2.10.13 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Detailed patch information is available in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-23qw-9qrh-9rr8 and the security commit.

Workarounds

• No official workarounds exist for this vulnerability; upgrading to version 2.10.13 is the recommended remediation
• As a temporary measure, restrict access to data source configuration functionality to only trusted administrators
• Implement network-level controls to block outbound connections from the Dataease server to untrusted hosts
• Consider temporarily disabling H2 data source creation capabilities if not required for operations

# Verify Dataease version after upgrade
docker exec dataease cat /opt/dataease/VERSION
# Expected output: 2.10.13 or higher