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High, CVSS 7.5amended

docx4j: Stack Overflow via Cyclic w:basedOn Style Chain leads to Denial of Service

CVE-2026-53752GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (org.docx4j:docx4j-core 11.5.14), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

Sources

Severity and exploitation
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:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS
  • CVE-2026-53752: 0.63% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 50.23 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary docx4j's PropertyResolver and several adjacent helpers recursively walk the OpenXML style inheritance chain (w:basedOn) without cycle detection. A WordprocessingML document containing a cyclic style chain (for example, Style A based on B and Style B based on A) causes unbounded recursion and a java.lang.StackOverflowError within the property-resolution code path. These helpers are used by operations that require effective style resolution, including common conversion and TOC-related paths. As a result, most server-side pipelines that accept a user-supplied docx and process it through docx4j can likely be crashed by a file containing a cyclic style reference. Details Representative snippet: PropertyResolver.fillPPrStack Impact This is a denial of service against a server-side application that processes untrusted docx files via docx4j. An upload causes the processing thread to be terminated with StackOverflowError which may crash the worker thread, degrade the thread pool, or…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43

  2. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-53752

Advisory: docx4j: Stack Overflow via Cyclic `w:basedOn` Style Chain leads to Denial of Service
IDs: CVE-2026-53752, GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-53752 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 16:54 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.docx4j:docx4j-core 11.5.14. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Maven org.docx4j:docx4j-core: affected <= 11.5.13; fixed in 11.5.14

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Maven org.docx4j:docx4j-core: 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.docx4j:docx4j-core.
- 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://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43 (OSV record GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43 lists affected ranges: Maven org.docx4j:docx4j-core >=0 <11.5.14 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43 lists affected ranges: Maven org.docx4j:docx4j-core >=0 <=11.5.13)

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