CVE-2025-54988: tika XXE — Fix

Description

Critical XXE in Apache Tika (tika-parser-pdf-module) in Apache Tika 1.13 through and including 3.2.1 on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. An attacker may be able to read sensitive data or trigger malicious requests to internal resources or third-party servers. Note that the tika-parser-pdf-module is used as a dependency in several Tika packages including at least: tika-parsers-standard-modules, tika-parsers-standard-package, tika-app, tika-grpc and tika-server-standard. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

8.4

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-611 CWE-611

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
apache	tika	1.13 — 3.2.2

References

Advisories & Patches

https://lists.apache.org/thread/8xn3rqy6kz5b3l1t83kcofkw0w4mmj1w

Other References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/08/20/2 http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/08/20/3 https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/10/msg00030.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-54988? +

Critical XXE in Apache Tika (tika-parser-pdf-module) in Apache Tika 1.13 through and including 3.2.1 on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. An attacker may be able to read sensitive data or trigger malicious requests to internal resources or third-party servers. Note that the tika-parser-pdf-module is used as a dependency in several Tika packages including at least: tika-parsers-standard-modules, tika-parsers-standard-package, tika-app, tika-grpc and tika-server-standard. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2025-54988? +

CVE-2025-54988 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.4 out of 10, rated HIGH. This is a high-severity vulnerability that should be prioritized for patching.

What products are affected by CVE-2025-54988? +

CVE-2025-54988 affects products from apache, specifically: tika. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2025-54988? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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