CVE-2019-12400

In version 2.0.3 Apache Santuario XML Security for Java, a caching mechanism was introduced to speed up creating new XML documents using a static pool of DocumentBuilders. However, if some untrusted code can register a malicious implementation with the thread context class loader first, then this implementation might be cached and re-used by Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java, leading to potential security flaws when validating signed documents, etc. The vulnerability affects Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java 2.0.x releases from 2.0.3 and all 2.1.x releases before 2.1.4.

Published: 2019-08-23 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-12400 is rated Moderate Risk (40/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.78%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-12400

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.59% 0.78% +0.19%
2 2025-11-21 0.44% 0.59% +0.14%
3 2025-11-18 0.44%

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-12400

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]
1.9 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.4 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-12400

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2019-12400

GHSA-4q98-wr72-h35w · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: maven — Improper input validation in Apache Santuario XML Security for Java

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-12400

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-12400 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (libxml-security-java), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4, open 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-12400
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-12400
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-12400 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (libxml-security-java), 18 status rows across 18 suites (bionic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 9, ignored 5, needed 2, DNE 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-12400

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-12400

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache santuario_xml_security_for_java >= 2.0.3, <= 2.0.10 cpe:2.3:a:apache:santuario_xml_security_for_java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apache santuario_xml_security_for_java >= 2.1.0, < 2.1.4 cpe:2.3:a:apache:santuario_xml_security_for_java:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat jboss_enterprise_application_platform 7.2 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:jboss_enterprise_application_platform:7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle weblogic_server 14.1.1.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:weblogic_server:14.1.1.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-12400

URL Tags
http://santuario.apache.org/secadv.data/CVE-2019-12400.asc?version=1&modificationDate=1566573083000&api=v2 Vendor Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0804 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0805 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0806 Third Party Advisory
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2020:0811 Third Party Advisory
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/8e814b925bf580bc527d96ff51e72ffe5bdeaa4b8bf5b89498cab24c%40%3Cdev.santuario.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/edaa7edb9c58e5f5bd0c950f2b6232b62b15f5c44ad803e8728308ce%40%3Cdev.santuario.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r107bffb06a5e27457fe9af7dfe3a233d0d36c6c2f5122f117eb7f626%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r1c07a561426ec5579073046ad7f4207cdcef452bb3100abaf908e0cd%40%3Ccommits.santuario.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rcdc0da94fe21b26493eae47ca987a290bdf90c721a7a42491fdd41d4%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf82be0a7c98cd3545e20817bb96ed05551ea0020acbaf9a469fef402%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf958cea96236de8829940109ae07e870aa3d59235345421e4924ff03%40%3Ccommits.tomee.apache.org%3E
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20190910-0003/ Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html Patch Third Party Advisory
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