CVE-2022-34169 — xalan
HIGHCVE-2022-34169 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) CWE-681 vulnerability in xalan:xalan. 3 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for xalan:xalan — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Apache Xalan Java XSLT library is vulnerable to an integer truncation issue when processing malicious XSLT stylesheets
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-2022-34169.
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
xalan:xalanReal-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
The Apache Xalan Java XSLT library is vulnerable to an integer truncation issue when processing malicious XSLT stylesheets. This can be used to corrupt Java class files generated by the internal XSLTC compiler and execute arbitrary Java bytecode. Users are recommended to update to version 2.7.3 or later. Note: Java runtimes (such as OpenJDK) include repackaged copies of Xalan.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | xalan:xalan | all versions | 2.7.3xalan:xalan:2.7.3 |
Affected Products
xalan-javaapachezuluazuldebian linuxdebianfedorafedoraproject7-mode transition toolnetappactive iq unified managernetappResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for xalan:xalan, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update xalan:xalan to 2.7.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2022-34169 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.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 3.20.6 for Spring Boot | xalan | RHSA-2024:3708 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 11.0.16 | Linux | RHSA-2022:5755 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 11.0.16 | Windows | RHSA-2022:5756 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 17.0.4 | Linux | RHSA-2022:5758 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 17.0.4 | Windows | RHSA-2022:5757 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 8u342 | Linux | RHSA-2022:5754 |
| Red Hat Build of OpenJDK 8u342 | Windows | RHSA-2022:5753 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | java-11-openjdk-1:11.0.16.0.8-1.el7_9 | RHSA-2022:5687 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2022-34169 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.