VDB-154683 · CVE-2020-10683 · Nessus 294867

dom4j up to 2.1.2 xml external entity reference

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.4	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in dom4j up to 2.1.2. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality. Performing a manipulation results in xml external entity reference. This vulnerability was named CVE-2020-10683. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in dom4j up to 2.1.2. This affects an unknown code. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a xml external entity reference vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-611. The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

dom4j before 2.1.3 allows external DTDs and External Entities by default, which might enable XXE attacks. However, there is popular external documentation from OWASP showing how to enable the safe, non-default behavior in any application that uses dom4j.

The weakness was presented 05/01/2020 (GitHub Repository). It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2020-10683 since 03/20/2020. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 294867 (Oracle Siebel Server <= 25.11 (January 2026 CPU)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 2.1.3 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (294867). See VDB-158165, VDB-158414 and VDB-158465 for similar entries. Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

dom4j

Version

Website

Product: https://github.com/dom4j/dom4j/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.5
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.4

VulDB Base Score: 7.3
VulDB Temp Score: 7.0
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 9.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Xml external entity reference
CWE: CWE-611 / CWE-610
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 294867
Nessus Name: Oracle Siebel Server <= 25.11 (January 2026 CPU)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: dom4j 2.1.3

Timelineinfo

03/20/2020 🔍
05/01/2020 +42 days 🔍
05/02/2020 +1 days 🔍
01/22/2026 +2091 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Product: github.com

Advisory: github.com
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2020-10683 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2020-10683
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-154683
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 05/02/2020 10:52
Updated: 01/22/2026 03:57
Changes: 05/02/2020 10:52 (38), 05/02/2020 10:57 (17), 10/15/2020 07:12 (1), 01/22/2026 03:57 (22)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:7F6:103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.