Staging Environment: Content and features may be unstable or change without notice.
Advisory details: github_osv / GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x
Advisory ID github_osv/GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x
Aliases CVE-2025-54988
Summary Apache Tika XXE Vulnerability via Crafted XFA File Inside a PDF 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.
Status Published
Exploitability 2.0
Weighted Severity 8.8
Risk 10.0
Affected and Fixed Packages Package Details
Introduced and Fixed Package Commit Patches Package Commit Patches Details
Weaknesses (1)
Data source Metasploit
Description This module validates CVE-2025-54988 / CVE-2025-66516 through an Elasticsearch ingest pipeline using the attachment processor. It creates a temporary pipeline, submits an in-memory PDF containing crafted XFA data to the _simulate API, extracts a caller-selected local file, and removes the pipeline in an ensure block. The target must permit pipeline creation, simulation, and deletion. The default proof file is /etc/hostname. No index or document is created.
Note
Stability:
  - crash-safe
Reliability:
  - repeatable-session
SideEffects:
  - ioc-in-logs
  - config-changes
Ransomware campaign use Unknown
Source publication date Aug. 20, 2025
Source URL https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/tree/master/modules/auxiliary/scanner/http/elasticsearch_tika_xfa_xxe.rb

No EPSS data available for this advisory.

Patch URL
There are no known patches.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Found at https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2025/08/GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x/GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x.json
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N Found at https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2025/08/GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x/GHSA-p72g-pv48-7w9x.json
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Attack Requirements (AT) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Vulnerable System Impact Confidentiality (VC) Vulnerable System Impact Integrity (VI) Vulnerable System Impact Availability (VA) Subsequent System Impact Confidentiality (SC) Subsequent System Impact Integrity (SI) Subsequent System Impact Availability (SA)

network

adjacent

local

physical

low

high

none

present

none

low

high

none

passive

active

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none

Vector: SSVCv2/E:P/A:N/T:T/P:M/B:A/M:M/D:R/2026-01-22T04:55:48Z/

Decision: Track*

Source URL: https://github.com/cisagov/vulnrichment/blob/develop/2025/54xxx/CVE-2025-54988.json

Source Advisory: vulnrichment/CVE-2025-54988

View SSVC decision tree
[{'Exploitation': 'poc'},
 {'Automatable': 'no'},
 {'Technical Impact': 'total'},
 {'Mission Prevalence': 'minimal'},
 {'Public Well-being Impact': 'material'},
 {'Mission & Well-being': 'medium'}]