Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs in Apache POI

MEDIUM 5.5CVE-2017-5644 · GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 · Published 24/03/2017 · updated 17/06/2026

In short

CVE-2017-5644 is a MEDIUM (CVSS 5.5) vulnerability affecting org.apache.poi:poi, poi (apache).
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS): 4.6%, higher than 91.7% of all vulnerabilities.
Fix: update to 3.15 or later.

Package	Affected versions	Patched versions
org.apache.poi:poi Maven	`< 3.15`	`3.15`
poi apache	`≤ 3.14`	No fix yet

Description

Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.

NVD description

Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.

References

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5644 · ADVISORY
oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2020.html · WEB
poi.apache.org · WEB
securityfocus.com/bid/96983 · WEB

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Package

Affected versions

Patched versions

org.apache.poi:poi

Maven

< 3.15

3.15

poi

apache

≤ 3.14

No fix yet

Description

Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.

NVD description

Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.

More vulnerabilities in org.apache.poi:poi

See all →