XXE in Apache Tika

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 via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. An attacker may be able to read sensitive data or trigger malicious requests to internal resources or third-party servers. Note that the tika-parser-pdf-module is used as a dependency in several Tika packages including at least: tika-parsers-standard-modules, tika-parsers-standard-package, tika-app, tika-grpc and tika-server-standard. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 3.2.2, which fixes this issue.

Vulnerability class: XXE (XML External Entity)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.485 (98.9th percentile), scored .

Moderate probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — watch for active exploitation reports. 99th percentile — 98.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-54988: rose from 0.377 to 0.485.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.377 · newest: 0.485 · change: +0.108

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-54988?
CVE-2025-54988 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apache Tika, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 8.4/10. Published 2025-08-20.
How severe is CVE-2025-54988?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.4 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-54988 known to be exploited?
7 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.