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Mallory
Medium

XXE in Apache SIS XML parsing (GeoTIFF/ISO19115/GML/GPX)

IdentifiersCVE-2025-68280CWE-611· Improper Restriction of XML…

Apache SIS contains an XML External Entity (XXE) issue caused by improper restriction of external entity resolution during XML parsing. A crafted XML payload can be embedded in inputs processed by SIS (including GeoTIFF files with the DGIWG GEO_METADATA tag, ISO 19115 metadata XML, GML-defined Coordinate Reference Systems, and GPX files). When SIS parses the malicious XML, external entities can be resolved such that the contents of local files on the server running Apache SIS are disclosed to the attacker. Affected versions are Apache SIS 0.4 through 1.5 (inclusive); the issue is fixed in 1.6.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

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Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Information disclosure: an attacker can cause Apache SIS to read and return the contents of local files on the SIS server via XXE during parsing of attacker-controlled XML embedded in supported geospatial/metadata formats (GeoTIFF GEO_METADATA, ISO 19115 XML, GML CRS, GPX).

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

As a workaround, launch the JVM with the system property javax.xml.accessExternalDTD set to a restrictive, comma-separated allowlist of permitted protocols (including the option of an empty string to disallow external DTD access), e.g. java -Djavax.xml.accessExternalDTD="" ....

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Apache SIS to version 1.6 (fix).
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
Apache Software FoundationSpatial Information Systemapplication

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ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

9 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity8

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.