LangChain's XMLOutputParser vulnerable to XML Entity ExpansionGHSA-q84m-rmw3-4382
MEDIUMFix: langchain-ai/langchain#17250GHSA-q84m-rmw3-4382 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) CWE-776 vulnerability in langchain-core. A fix is available for langchain-core — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-q84m-rmw3-4382.
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
langchain-coreReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The XMLOutputParser in LangChain uses the etree module from the XML parser in the standard python library which has some XML vulnerabilities; see: https://docs.python.org/3/library/xml.html
This primarily affects users that combine an LLM (or agent) with the XMLOutputParser and expose the component via an endpoint on a web-service.
This would allow a malicious party to attempt to manipulate the LLM to produce a malicious payload for the parser that would compromise the availability of the service.
A successful attack is predicated on:
- Usage of XMLOutputParser
- Passing of malicious input into the XMLOutputParser either directly or by trying to manipulate an LLM to do so on the users behalf
- Exposing the component via a web-service
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | langchain-core | all versions | 0.1.35pip install --upgrade 'langchain-core==0.1.35' |
Affected Products
langchainlangchainDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for langchain-core, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update langchain-core to 0.1.35 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-q84m-rmw3-4382 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-q84m-rmw3-4382 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.