CVE-2021-23926 | XMLBeans XML Entity Expansion

The XML parsers used by XMLBeans up to version 2.6.0 did not set the properties needed to protect the user from malicious XML input. Vulnerabilities include possibilities for XML Entity Expansion attacks. Affects XMLBeans up to and including v2.6.0.

Published: 2021-01-14 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-23926 is rated Moderate Risk (58.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.44%). 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-2021-23926

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 2026-04-11 0.32% 0.44% +0.12%
2 2025-11-21 5.59% 0.32% -5.27%
3 2025-11-18 — 5.59% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-23926

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.2 [email protected]
6.4 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-23926

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-23926

GHSA-mw3r-pfmg-xp92 · Severity: critical · Ecosystem: maven — Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in Apache XMLBeans

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-23926

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-23926 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (xmlbeans), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-23926
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-23926
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-23926/
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-23926 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (xmlbeans), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 12, needs-triage 2, DNE 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-23926

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-23926

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache xmlbeans <= 2.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:apache:xmlbeans:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp oncommand_unified_manager_core_package — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:oncommand_unified_manager_core_package:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp snap_creator_framework — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:snap_creator_framework:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp snapmanager — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:snapmanager:-:*:*:*:*:oracle:*:*
netapp snapmanager — cpe:2.3:a:netapp:snapmanager:-:*:*:*:*:sap:*:*
debian debian_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle middleware_common_libraries_and_tools 12.2.1.3.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:middleware_common_libraries_and_tools:12.2.1.3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle middleware_common_libraries_and_tools 12.2.1.4.0 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:middleware_common_libraries_and_tools:12.2.1.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.57 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.57:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.58 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.58:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
oracle peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools 8.59 cpe:2.3:a:oracle:peoplesoft_enterprise_peopletools:8.59:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-23926

cvelogic Threat Intelligence