dbcve.org
XML External Entity (XXE)Weakness · CWE-611

CVE-2024-8602

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v4.0 Published 2024-10-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
When the XML is read from the codes in the PDF and parsed using a DocumentBuilder, the default settings of the DocumentBuilder allow for an XXE (XML External Entity) attack. Further information on this can be found on the website of the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP). An attacker could theoretically leverage this by delivering a manipulated PDF file to the target, and depending on the environment, various actions can be executed. These actions include: * Reading files from the operating system * Crashing the thread handling the parsing or causing it to enter an infinite loop * Executing HTTP requests * Loading additional DTDs or XML files * Under certain conditions, executing OS commands

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is an XXE vulnerability in PDF parsing code where DocumentBuilder uses default settings that permit external entity processing. When XML data extracted from PDF files is parsed, attackers can inject malicious XML entities through crafted PDF files to read local files, make HTTP requests, or execute commands.

MitigationConfigure DocumentBuilder with security features to disable external entities, DTD processing, and external document references by setting appropriate parser properties before parsing XML from PDF documents.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify PDF parsing functionality
    Search your codebase or application for libraries/modules that parse PDF files and extract XML content from them. Look for imports like javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder, org.w3c.dom, or PDF parsing libraries such as iText, PDFBox, or Apache PDFBox.
    Affected if Your application parses PDF files and extracts XML data from them using DocumentBuilder or similar XML parsers
  2. Locate DocumentBuilder configuration
    Find where DocumentBuilder or DocumentBuilderFactory is instantiated in the PDF parsing code path. Search for code that creates XML parsers specifically for handling XML extracted from PDF documents.
    Affected if DocumentBuilder is created in the PDF parsing code path without explicit security configuration
  3. Check for external entity settings
    Inspect the DocumentBuilder or DocumentBuilderFactory configuration. Look for whether FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING is enabled, and check if the factory has DISALLOW_DTD or DISALLOW_DOCTYPE_DECL restrictions set. Search for calls to setFeature() or setProperty() on the parser.
    Affected if The DocumentBuilder has no setFeature() calls disabling external entities, or FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING is not explicitly set to true
  4. Verify DTD processing is not restricted
    Check if the parser configuration explicitly disables DTD (Document Type Definition) processing. Look for factory.setFeature("http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl", true) or similar restrictions.
    Affected if DTD processing is allowed by default (no explicit disallow-doctype-decl or similar feature set to true)
  5. Confirm external document access is not blocked
    Examine whether the parser has protections against external document references. Check for settings that block external entity resolution or external parameter entities.
    Affected if No configuration exists to block external entities, external parameter entities, or external document references in the XML parser

You are affected if your application parses PDFs and extracts XML using DocumentBuilder with default settings that allow external entity and DTD processing.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Configure DocumentBuilder with security features to disable external entities, DTD processing, and external document references by setting appropriate parser properties before parsing XML from PDF documents.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-8602 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-8602 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data