CycloneDX cyclonedx-core-java up to 11.0.0 xml external entity reference

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as problematic has been identified in CycloneDX cyclonedx-core-java up to 11.0.0. This affects an unknown function. The manipulation results in xml external entity reference. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-64518. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in CycloneDX cyclonedx-core-java up to 11.0.0. Affected is an unknown code block. 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. CVE summarizes:

The CycloneDX core module provides a model representation of the SBOM along with utilities to assist in creating, validating, and parsing SBOMs. Starting in version 2.1.0 and prior to version 11.0.1, the XML `Validator` used by cyclonedx-core-java was not configured securely, making the library vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection. The fix for GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8 / CVE-2024-38374 was incomplete in that it only fixed parsing of XML BOMs, but not validation. The vulnerability has been fixed in cyclonedx-core-java version 11.0.1. As a workaround, applications can reject XML documents before handing them to cyclonedx-core-java for validation. This may be an option if incoming CycloneDX BOMs are known to be in JSON format.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-64518 since 11/05/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available.

Upgrading to version 11.0.1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 162aa594f347b3f612fe0a45071693c3cd398ce9 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2025-50813). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Programming Language Software

Vendor

• CycloneDX

Name

• cyclonedx-core-java

Version

• 11.0

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/

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Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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