CVE-2025-66516: tika XXE — Fix

Description

Critical XXE in Apache Tika tika-core (1.13-3.2.1), tika-pdf-module (2.0.0-3.2.1) and tika-parsers (1.13-1.28.5) modules on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. This CVE covers the same vulnerability as in CVE-2025-54988. However, this CVE expands the scope of affected packages in two ways. First, while the entrypoint for the vulnerability was the tika-parser-pdf-module as reported in CVE-2025-54988, the vulnerability and its fix were in tika-core. Users who upgraded the tika-parser-pdf-module but did not upgrade tika-core to >= 3.2.2 would still be vulnerable. Second, the original report failed to mention that in the 1.x Tika releases, the PDFParser was in the "org.apache.tika:tika-parsers" module.

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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/s5x3k93nhbkqzztp1olxotoyjpdlps9k

Other References

https://cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-54988

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2025-66516? +

Critical XXE in Apache Tika tika-core (1.13-3.2.1), tika-pdf-module (2.0.0-3.2.1) and tika-parsers (1.13-1.28.5) modules on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. This CVE covers the same vulnerability as in CVE-2025-54988. However, this CVE expands the scope of affected packages in two ways. First, while the entrypoint for the vulnerability was the tika-parser-pdf-module as reported in CVE-2025-54988, the vulnerability and its fix were in tika-core. Users who upgraded the tika-parser-pdf-module but did not upgrade tika-core to >= 3.2.2 would still be vulnerable. Second, the original report failed to mention that in the 1.x Tika releases, the PDFParser was in the "org.apache.tika:tika-parsers" module. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (HIGH).

How severe is CVE-2025-66516? +

CVE-2025-66516 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-2025-66516? +

CVE-2025-66516 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-2025-66516? +

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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