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TikaApplication · Apache

CVE-2025-54988

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2.2 or later.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
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
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.

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

Critical XXE (XML External Entity) injection vulnerability in Apache Tika's tika-parser-pdf-module allows attackers to embed crafted XFA (XML Forms Architecture) data within PDF files. When processed, the malicious XFA content triggers XXE, enabling unauthorized file system access or SSRF attacks against internal infrastructure.

MitigationUpgrade Apache Tika to version 3.2.2 or later to resolve the XXE vulnerability in the PDF parsing module.

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

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
TikaApplication
Affected:>= 1.13, < 3.2.2

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 the installed Apache Tika version
    Run the Tika version check command (e.g., tika-server --version, or inspect the Tika JAR/dependency manifest file for the version attribute)
    Affected if The detected version is greater than or equal to 1.13 AND less than 3.2.2 (for example, 2.1.0, 2.0.1, or 1.28 would be affected)
  2. Locate the tika-parser-pdf-module component
    Inspect your Tika installation or dependency tree for the presence of the tika-parser-pdf-module JAR file or package, typically named tika-parser-pdf-module-x.x.x.jar
    Affected if The tika-parser-pdf-module is present in your Tika deployment
  3. Confirm PDF parsing functionality is enabled
    Check your Tika configuration or application code to verify that PDF parsing is actively enabled or being used (look for PDFParser being loaded or referenced)
    Affected if PDF parsing is enabled and the Tika version falls within the affected range
  4. Determine if untrusted PDF files are processed
    Review your application's data flow to identify whether PDF files from external or untrusted sources are submitted to Tika for parsing
    Affected if Your application processes PDF files from external or untrusted sources using a vulnerable Tika version

You are affected if your Apache Tika installation version is >=1.13 and <3.2.2 and your application uses the tika-parser-pdf-module to process untrusted PDF files.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.2.2 or later
Fixed in 3.2.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Apache Tika to version 3.2.2 or later to resolve the XXE vulnerability in the PDF parsing module.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apache Tika 3.2.2

  1. 1. Identify all Apache Tika dependencies in your project that include tika-parser-pdf-module (including: tika-parsers-standard-modules, tika-parsers-standard-package, tika-app, tika-grpc, and tika-server-standard)
  2. 2. Update the Apache Tika dependency version to 3.2.2 in your build configuration (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or equivalent)
  3. 3. Rebuild and redeploy your application
  4. 4. Test that PDF parsing functionality still works correctly with your use cases
  5. 5. Verify that the application no longer processes XFA files in a way that allows XXE injection

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Tika Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
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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-2025-54988 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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