GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf — org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may
HIGHGHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may. A fix is available for ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may — see the affected versions and patch details below.
XXE vulnerability in XSLT transforms in `org.hl7.fhir.core`
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 GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf.
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
GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf 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
ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may☕ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu3☕ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4☕ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4b☕ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r5☕ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.utilitiesReal-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
XSLT transforms performed by various components are vulnerable to XML external entity injections. A processed XML file with a malicious DTD tag ( <!DOCTYPE foo [<!ENTITY example SYSTEM "/etc/passwd"> ]> could produce XML containing data from the host system. This impacts use cases where org.hl7.fhir.core is being used to within a host where external clients can submit XML.
Patches
This issue has been patched in release 6.3.23
Workarounds
None.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may:6.3.23 |
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu3 | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu3:6.3.23 |
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4 | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4:6.3.23 |
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4b | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r4b:6.3.23 |
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r5 | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.r5:6.3.23 |
| ☕Maven | ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.utilities | all versions | 6.3.23ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.utilities:6.3.23 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update ca.uhn.hapi.fhir:org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may to 6.3.23 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf 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 GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf. 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.
This vulnerability is of significant severity because it allows for XML External Entity (XXE) injection, which can lead to unauthorized access and leakage of sensitive data from the host system. In environments where external clients are permitted to submit XML files, an attacker could craft a malicious XML containing…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 3.20.7 for Spring Boot | org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may | RHSA-2024:6883 |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4.4.3 for Spring Boot | org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may | RHSA-2024:8064 |
| Red Hat build of Apache Camel 4 for Quarkus 3 | org.hl7.fhir.dstu2016may | RHSA-2024:7052 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-6cr6-ph3p-f5rf across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.