GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
XML External Entity (XXE) Injection in Jackson Databind
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 | 2.6.7.4 |
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.7.0.0&&< 2.9.10.7 | 2.9.10.7 |
| ☕Maven | com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind | ≥ 2.10.0.0&&< 2.10.5.1 | 2.10.5.1 |
Detection & 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. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
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 GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq 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 pinpoints whether GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
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…
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-288c-cq4h-88gq across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.