Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2024-38374: 0.59% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 48.21 (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.

Impact Before deserializing CycloneDX Bill of Materials in XML format, cyclonedx-core-java leverages XPath expressions to determine the schema version of the BOM. The DocumentBuilderFactory used to evaluate XPath expressions was not configured securely, making the library vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection. XXE injection can be exploited to exfiltrate local file content, or perform Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) to access infrastructure adjacent to the vulnerable application. PoC Patches The vulnerability has been fixed in cyclonedx-core-java version 0.9.4. Workarounds If feasible, applications can reject XML documents before handing them to cyclonedx-core-java for parsing. This may be an option if incoming CycloneDX BOMs are known to be in JSON format. References Issue was fixed via <https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/pull/434 Issue was introduced via <https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/commit/162aa594f347b3f612fe0a45071693c3cd398ce9…

Published by the source

24 Jun 2024, 20:44 UTC

Last modified by the source

28 Jun 2024, 18:58 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 16:30 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-38374

Advisory: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java
IDs: CVE-2024-38374, GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-38374 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:30 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java 9.0.4. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java: affected >= 2.1.0, < 9.0.4; fixed in 9.0.4

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java: 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 org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java.
- 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-683x-4444-jxh8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8 lists affected ranges: Maven org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java >=2.1.0 <9.0.4)

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