What is CVE-2016-5000?

CVE-2016-5000 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Poi, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2016-08-05.

How severe is CVE-2016-5000?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.

XXE in Apache Poi

CVE-2016-5000

The XLSX2CSV example in Apache POI before 3.14 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a crafted OpenXML document containing an external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue.

Vulnerability class: XXE (XML External Entity)

Published 2016-08-05 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.042 (90.9th percentile), scored 2026-11-01.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 91st percentile — 90.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.042 · newest: 0.042 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Apache Poi

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-611 — Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE)

References

www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/538981/100/0/threaded (mailing-list)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/92100 (vdb-entry)
www.securitytracker.com/id/1037741 (vdb-entry)
lists.apache.org/list.html (mailing-list)
www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html
www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2016-5000?: CVE-2016-5000 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache Poi, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 5.5/10. Published 2016-08-05.
How severe is CVE-2016-5000?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.5 out of 10.