High severity · published Jun 11, 2026
CVE-2026-40998
Jaxp13 XPath XXE via StreamSource and SAXSource
8.2
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Jaxp13XPathTemplate evaluated XPath expressions for StreamSource and SAXSource inputs using a code path that parsed attacker-controlled XML with the JDK's default DocumentBuilderFactory behavior instead of Spring's hardened parser configuration. Applications that evaluate XPath against untrusted XML payloads could therefore be exposed to XML External Entity (XXE) style attacks.
Affected versions:
Spring Web Services 5.0.0 through 5.0.1; 4.1.0 through 4.1.3; 4.0.0 through 4.0.18; 3.1.0 through 3.1.8.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 29% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
SW
Spring Web Services · Spring
5.0.0 before 5.0.1.1; 4.1.0 before 4.1.3.1; 4.0.0 before 4.0.19; 3.1.0 before 3.1.9 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40998
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-40998
Vendor Advisory
https://spring.io/security/cve-2026-40998
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