CVE-2020-25649 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 17.3% (97th percentile). A fix is available for com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XML External Entity (XXE) Injection in Jackson Databind
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2020-25649.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-25649 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,386 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind☕com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind☕com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databindReal-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
A flaw was found in FasterXML Jackson Databind, where it did not have entity expansion secured properly. This flaw allows vulnerability to XML external entity (XXE) attacks. The highest threat from this vulnerability is data integrity.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.6.0&&< 2.6.7.4 | 2.6.7.4com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.6.7.4 |
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.7.0.0&&< 2.9.10.7 | 2.9.10.7com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.9.10.7 |
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.10.0.0&&< 2.10.5.1 | 2.10.5.1com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind:2.10.5.1 |
Affected Products
iotdbapachejackson-databindfasterxmlfedorafedoraprojectoncommand api servicesnetapponcommand workflow automationnetappservice level managernetappDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind to 2.6.7.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-25649 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
* Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 ships a vulnerable version of jackson-databind in the pki-deps:10.6 module. pki-deps:10.6 is for pki-core dependencies, but pki-core does not use the vulnerable DOMDeserializer class and thus has been set to low impact. Future updates may include fixed version of jackson-databind. * Red…
There is currently no known mitigation for this flaw.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2020-25649 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat AMQ Streams 1.7.0 | jackson-databind | RHSA-2021:1260 |
| Red Hat Data Grid 7.3.8 | jackson-databind | RHSA-2020:5410 |
| Red Hat Integration | jackson-databind | RHSA-2021:2039 |
| Red Hat Integration - Camel K - Tech-Preview 3 | jackson-databind | RHSA-2021:0811 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | see advisory | RHSA-2020:4402 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7 | jackson-databind | RHSA-2020:5344 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 for RHEL 6 | eap7-jackson-databind-0:2.10.4-1.redhat_00002.1.el6eap | RHSA-2020:4401 |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform 7.3 for RHEL 6 | eap7-activemq-artemis-0:2.9.0-6.redhat_00016.1.el6eap | RHSA-2020:5340 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-25649 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.