CVE-2025-66516: Apache Tika has XXE vulnerability

Should you act?

High exploit likelihood

EPSS ranks it in the top 5% of all CVEs for likely exploitation in the next 30 days. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• Not in CISA KEV, but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
• EPSS 89.0%, percentile 99.8: FIRST’s model estimates a 89.0% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 99.8% of all scored CVEs (very high). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes org.apache.tika:tika-core (Maven) >= 1.13, <= 3.2.1, fixed in 3.2.2; org.apache.tika:tika-parsers (Maven) >= 1.13, < 2.0.0, fixed in 2.0.0; org.apache.tika:tika-parser-pdf-module (Maven) >= 2.0.0, <= 3.2.1, fixed in 3.2.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Critical XXE in Apache Tika tika-core (1.13-3.2.1), tika-pdf-module (2.0.0-3.2.1) and tika-parsers (1.13-1.28.5) modules on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF. This CVE covers the same vulnerability as in CVE-2025-54988. However, this CVE expands the scope of affected packages in two ways. First, while the entrypoint for the vulnerability was the tika-parser-pdf-module as reported in CVE-2025-54988, the vulnerability and its fix were in tika-core. Users who upgraded the tika-parser-pdf-module but did not upgrade tika-core to >= 3.2.2 would still be vulnerable. Second, the original report failed to mention that in the 1.x Tika releases, the PDFParser was in the "org.apache.tika:tika-parsers" module.

From the GitHub advisory

Critical XXE in Apache Tika tika-core (1.13-3.2.1), tika-pdf-module (2.0.0-3.2.1) and tika-parsers (1.13-1.28.5) modules on all platforms allows an attacker to carry out XML External Entity injection via a crafted XFA file inside of a PDF.

This CVE covers the same vulnerability as in CVE-2025-54988. However, this CVE expands the scope of affected packages in two ways.

First, while the entrypoint for the vulnerability was the tika-parser-pdf-module as reported in CVE-2025-54988, the vulnerability and its fix were in tika-core. Users who upgraded the tika-parser-pdf-module but did not upgrade tika-core to >= 3.2.2 would still be vulnerable.

Second, the original report failed to mention that in the 1.x Tika releases, the PDFParser was in the "org.apache.tika:tika-parsers" module.

Weakness type: CWE-611.

Product: org.apache.tika:tika-core (Maven) · Assigned by: apache · Published: 2025-12-04

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Attack requirements: none
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc, automatable no, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 88.98% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 99.8.

Timeline

• 2025-12-04 — CVE record published by apache
• 2025-12-04 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-f58c-gq56-vjjf published (critical)
• 2026-02-26 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vendor and project advisories, patches

1. lists.apache.org lists.apache.org

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-f58c-gq56-vjjf github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2025-66516 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2025-66516 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. cve.org cve.org

Critical Maven advisories · Today’s Security Digest