CVE-2025-53621 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.9) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in org.dspace:dspace-api. A fix is available for org.dspace:dspace-api — see the affected versions and patch details below.
DSpace vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection in import via Simple Archive Format (SAF) or import from external sources
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- 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-2025-53621.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2025-53621 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,636 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.dspace:dspace-api☕org.dspace:dspace-api☕org.dspace:dspace-apiReal-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
Impact
Two related XXE injection possibilities have been discovered, impacting all versions of DSpace prior to 7.6.4, 8.2 and 9.1.
- External entities are not disabled when parsing XML files during import of an archive (in Simple Archive Format), either from command-line (
./dspace importcommand) or from the "Batch Import (Zip)" user interface feature. (Likely impacts all versions of DSpace 1.x <= 7.6.3, 8.0 <= 8.1, and 9.0) - External entities are also not explicitly disabled when parsing XML responses from some upstream services (ArXiv, Crossref, OpenAIRE, Creative Commons) used in import from external sources via the user interface or REST API. (Impacts all versions of DSpace 7.0 <= 7.6.3, 8.0 <= 8.1 and 9.0)
An XXE injection in these files may result in a connection being made to an attacker's site or a local path readable by the Tomcat user, with content potentially being injected into a metadata field. In the latter case, this may result in sensitive content disclosure, including retrieving arbitrary files or configurations from the server where DSpace is running or content from remote URLs. The ability to include content from a remote URL could result in a request forgery attack, and disclosure of sensitive information in the response.
The Simple Archive Format (SAF) importer / Batch Import (Zip) is only usable by site administrators (from user interface / REST API) or system administrators (from command-line). Therefore, to exploit this vulnerability, the malicious payload would have to be provided by an attacker and trusted by an administrator (who would trigger the import).
- The most severe practical impact is a case where an attacker obtains DSpace administrator credentials and uses the Batch Import feature with a malicious SAF archive to expose sensitive local files readable by the Tomcat user, or secrets and access tokens from an authenticated service via request forgery.
- An attacker without administrative credentials might use some other tactic to convince an administrator to import a malicious SAF archive they have supplied.
The Import from External Sources feature has a narrower attack vector. While this feature is usable by any DSpace Submitter, the malicious payload must be provided by the external source (e.g. arXiv, Crossref, OpenAIRE, or Creative Commons). No known method exists for an attacker to inject XXE via content uploads. Instead, the service itself would need to be compromised in such a way that it would inject a malicious payload into its API response.
Patches
The fix is included in DSpace 7.6.4, 8.2 and 9.1. Please upgrade to one of these versions.
If you cannot upgrade immediately, it is possible to manually patch your DSpace backend. (No changes are necessary to the frontend.) A pull request exists which can be used to patch systems running DSpace 7.6.x, 8.x or 9.0. This pull request provides central methods to retrieve Java XML, SAX, JAXB XML document builders with safe default settings, including XXE protection.
- Pull request for 7.x: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/pull/11032 (Downloadable patch file)
- Pull request for 8.x: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/pull/11034 (Downloadable patch file)
- Pull request for 9.0: https://github.com/DSpace/DSpace/pull/11035 (Downloadable patch file)
Apply the patch to your DSpace
If at all possible, we recommend upgrading your DSpace site based on the upgrade instructions. However, if you are unable to do so, you can manually apply the above patches to your DSpace backend as follows:
- Download the appropriate patch file to the machine where DSpace backend is running
- From the
[dspace-src]folder, apply the patch, e.g.git apply [name-of-file].patch - Now, update your DSpace site (based loosely on the Upgrade instructions). This generally involves three steps:
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
mvn -U clean package(This will recompile all DSpace backend code) - Redeploy DSpace, e.g.
ant update(This will copy all newly built code to your installation directory). Depending on your setup you also may need to copy the updated "server" webapp over to your Tomcat webapps folder. - Restart Tomcat (or runnable JAR)
- Rebuild DSpace, e.g.
Workarounds
Patching the system is the recommended fix. It is not possible to fully protect your system via workarounds.
That said, until you are able to patch your system or upgrade, you can apply these best practices:
- Administrators must carefully inspect any SAF archives (they did not construct themselves) before importing. If SAF archives are too large to manually inspect, you should avoid importing them until your site is patched.
- As necessary, affected external services can be disabled (see documentation) to mitigate the ability for a malicious payload to be delivered via external service APIs.
Credits
Discovered & reported by Pablo Picurelli Ortiz (@superpegaso2703) Code fix developed by Kim Shepherd (@kshepherd) of The Library Code
For more information
- XXE Cheat Sheet / Explanations
- If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please contact us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | all versions | 7.6.4org.dspace:dspace-api:7.6.4 |
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | ≥ 8.0&&< 8.2 | 8.2org.dspace:dspace-api:8.2 |
| ☕Maven | org.dspace:dspace-api | ≥ 9.0&&< 9.1 | 9.1org.dspace:dspace-api:9.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.dspace:dspace-api, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.dspace:dspace-api to 7.6.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-53621 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2025-53621 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2025-53621. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-53621 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2025-53621 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.