CVE-2018-1309 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors. A fix is available for org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in Apache NiFi
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processorsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Apache NiFi External XML Entity issue in SplitXML processor. Malicious XML content could cause information disclosure or remote code execution. The fix to disable external general entity parsing and disallow doctype declarations was applied on the Apache NiFi 1.6.0 release. Users running a prior 1.x release should upgrade to the appropriate release.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors | ≥ 0.1.0&&< 1.6.0 | 1.6.0org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors:1.6.0 |
Affected Products
nifiapacheDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.apache.nifi:nifi-standard-processors to 1.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2018-1309 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Assume what was exposed is already known: rotate any credential, token or key that the affected component could return, restrict the endpoint to callers that genuinely need it, and strip sensitive fields from responses and error output at the boundary rather than relying on the client not to read them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-1309 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.