CVE-2026-44020: Docling: Unsafe XML Entity Expansion in USPTO Patent Backend

Description

Docling simplifies document processing by parsing diverse formats and providing integrations with the generative AI ecosystem. From 2.13.0 until 2.74.0, the USPTO patent XML parser used the standard xml.sax.parseString() without protection against XML External Entity (XXE) attacks. An attacker could craft malicious USPTO patent XML files with external entity references that could read arbitrary files from the server filesystem, perform Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) attacks, or cause denial of service through entity expansion (Billion Laughs attack). The vulnerability affects three USPTO patent format parsers: ICE (v4.x), Grant v2.5, and Application v1.x. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.74.0.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/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)0.6% · higher than 49% of CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet

CISA KEVNot listed

Ransomware campaign useNot known

Affected products

Which versions

DO

docling · docling-project

>= 2.13.0, < 2.74.0 · source: vendor, NVD

RH

Red Hat OpenShift AI 3.4 · Red Hat

All versions, or not specified · source: CISA