High severity · published Oct 9, 2018
CVE-2018-11796
In Apache Tika 1.19 (CVE-2018-11761), we added an entity expansion limit for XML parsing
7.5
CVSS
7.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
In Apache Tika 1.19 (CVE-2018-11761), we added an entity expansion limit for XML parsing. However, Tika reuses SAXParsers and calls reset() after each parse, which, for Xerces2 parsers, as per the documentation, removes the user-specified SecurityManager and thus removes entity expansion limits after the first parse. Apache Tika versions from 0.1 to 1.19 are therefore still vulnerable to entity expansions which can lead to a denial of service attack. Users should upgrade to 1.19.1 or later.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)7.5% · higher than 94% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
TI
Tika · Apache
0.1 through 1.19 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-11796
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-11796
Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105585
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2019:3892
lists.apache.org
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/88de8350cda9b184888ec294c813c5bd8a2081de8fd3666f8904bc05%40%3Cdev.tika.apache.org%3E
security.netapp.com
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190903-0002/
More from Tika
9.8
CVE-2026-66756
Apache Tika: unpack endpoint in tika-server allows configuration with unsecureFeatures=false
9.8
CVE-2025-66516
Apache Tika core, Apache Tika parsers, Apache Tika PDF parser module: Update to CVE-2025-54988 to expand scope of artifacts affected
9.8
CVE-2016-6809
Apache Tika before 1.14 allows Java code execution for serialized objects embedded in MATLAB files
8.8
CVE-2019-10088
A carefully crafted or corrupt zip file can cause an OOM in Apache Tika's RecursiveParserWrapper in versions 1.7-1.21
8.4
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…