Improper Input Validation in Xerces

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2020-14338: 1.29% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 70.32 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

A flaw was found in Wildfly's implementation of Xerces, specifically in the way the XMLSchemaValidator class in the JAXP component of Wildfly enforced the "use-grammar-pool-only" feature. This flaw allows a specially-crafted XML file to manipulate the validation process in certain cases. This issue is the same flaw as CVE-2020-14621, which affected OpenJDK, and uses a similar code. All xerces jboss versions before 2.12.0.SP3.

Published by the source

15 Feb 2022, 01:37 UTC

Last modified by the source

2 Feb 2023, 05:04 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:07 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-w4jq-qh47-hvjq

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2020-14338

Advisory: Improper Input Validation in Xerces
IDs: CVE-2020-14338, GHSA-w4jq-qh47-hvjq
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2020-14338 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:07 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: xerces:xercesImpl 2.12.0.sp3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven xerces:xercesImpl: affected <= 2.12.0.sp2; fixed in 2.12.0.sp3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven xerces:xercesImpl: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on xerces:xercesImpl.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-w4jq-qh47-hvjq (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-w4jq-qh47-hvjq lists affected ranges: Maven xerces:xercesImpl >=0 <=2.12.0.sp2)

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