CVE-2021-39239 | XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability

A vulnerability in XML processing in Apache Jena, in versions up to 4.1.0, may allow an attacker to execute XML External Entities (XXE), including exposing the contents of local files to a remote server.

Published: 2021-09-16 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-39239 is rated Moderate Risk (64.7/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.01%). EPSS rose +3.44% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. 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-2021-39239

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 0.56% 4.01% +3.44%
2 2026-02-22 0.54% 0.56% +0.02%
3 2026-02-21 — 0.54% —

Full EPSS history (22 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-39239

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:N)
No availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-39239

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-39239

GHSA-7rp6-w7mg-h8rw · Severity: high · Ecosystem: maven — XML External Entity Reference in Apache Jena

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-39239

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2021-39239 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (apache-jena), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-39239
ubuntu medium CVE-2021-39239 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (apache-jena), 9 status rows across 9 suites (jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream): ignored 5, needs-triage 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-39239

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-39239

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
apache jena <= 4.1.0 cpe:2.3:a:apache:jena:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2021-39239

cvelogic Threat Intelligence