GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5
MEDIUMGHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-776 vulnerability in org.apache.poi:poi. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs in Apache POI
Blast Radius
org.apache.poi:poiReal-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
Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.apache.poi:poi | all versions | 3.15 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.apache.poi:poi. 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 org.apache.poi:poi to 3.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 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-78vv-qj73-h9m5 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-78vv-qj73-h9m5. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5 across Maven dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.