VulnerabilityPublished 10 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-30220: geoserver · XML External Entity (XXE)

Affects geoserverSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · public detection template (Nuclei) · 42% EPSS · CVSS 9.9 Critical · fixed in 2.25.7 : patch geoserver as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.9Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 42.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 98% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.25.7, 33.1, 32.3 +4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Jun 2025
Detectable: evidence found.
nuclei template: GeoServer WFS - XXE Processing Vulnerability
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade geoserver/geoserver to 2.25.7; geotools/geotools to 33.1, 32.3, 31.7 or 28.6.1; geonetwork/core-geonetwork to 4.4.8 or 4.2.13.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubgeoserver/geoserver`pkg:github/geoserver/geoserver`Other threats	Affected <2.25.7	Fixed in 2.25.7
GitHubgeotools/geotools`pkg:github/geotools/geotools`Other threats	Affected <28.6.1 <31.7 <32.3 <33.1	Fixed in 28.6.1 31.7 32.3 33.1
GitHubgeonetwork/core-geonetwork`pkg:github/geonetwork/core-geonetwork`Other threats	Affected <4.2.13 <4.4.8	Fixed in 4.2.13 4.4.8

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediate patching: Upgrade GeoServer installations to versions 2.27.1, 2.26.3, or 2.25.7 and GeoTools to versions 33.1, 32.3, 31.7, or 28.6.1 as applicable.
Configuration review: Ensure that XML parsers used by GeoServer and GeoTools are configured to disable external entity resolution and DTD processing unless explicitly required and safely managed.
Network segmentation: Restrict GeoServer’s network access to limit outbound connections, preventing SSRF exploitation from reaching internal resources.
Input validation: Implement strict validation and sanitization of all XML inputs, especially those that reference external schemas.
Monitoring and logging: Enable detailed logging of XML processing errors and monitor for unusual outbound requests or access patterns indicative of exploitation attempts.
Access controls: Limit exposure of GeoServer interfaces to trusted networks or VPNs where possible.
Incident response preparedness: Develop and test incident response plans specific to geospatial data breaches and XXE exploitation scenarios.
Vendor advisories: Stay updated with GeoServer and GeoTools security advisories for any further patches or mitigation guidance.

Description

GeoServer is an open source server that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. GeoTools Schema class use of Eclipse XSD library to represent schema data structure is vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) exploit. This impacts whoever exposes XML processing with gt-xsd-core involved in parsing, when the documents carry a reference to an external XML schema. The gt-xsd-core Schemas class is not using the EntityResolver provided by the ParserHandler (if any was configured). This also impacts users of gt-wfs-ng DataStore where the ENTITY_RESOLVER connection parameter was not being used as intended. This vulnerability is fixed in GeoTools 33.1, 32.3, 31.7, and 28.6.1, GeoServer 2.27.1, 2.26.3, and 2.25.7, and GeoNetwork 4.4.8 and 4.2.13.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-30220 can be significant, especially for those relying on GeoServer for critical geospatial data services in sectors such as urban planning, transportation, environmental monitoring, defense, and utilities. Confidentiality is the most affected aspect, as attackers could exploit the XXE vulnerability to read arbitrary files on the server or perform SSRF attacks to access internal network resources, potentially exposing sensitive or classified geospatial data. Integrity impact is limited but could allow partial manipulation or disruption of data processing. Availability impact is low but possible if the exploit leads to denial-of-service conditions. Given the criticality of geospatial data in infrastructure and government services, exploitation could lead to operational disruptions, loss of trust, and regulatory compliance issues under GDPR if personal or sensitive data is exposed. The vulnerability’s network-exploitable nature without authentication increases risk, especially for publicly accessible GeoServer instances. European organizations with public-facing geospatial services or integrated GIS platforms are at heightened risk.

CWE-611Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A02:2025: Security Misconfiguration (opens in a new tab)
The product processes an XML document that can contain XML entities with URIs that resolve to documents outside of the intended sphere of control, causing the product to embed incorrect documents into its output.
Implementation · System Configuration
Many XML parsers and validators can be configured to disable external entity expansion.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Deserialization (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.5.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Data Serialization External Entities Blowup (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-918Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #22OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The web server receives a URL or similar request from an upstream component and retrieves the contents of this URL, but it does not sufficiently ensure that the request is being sent to the expected destination.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Server Side Request Forgery Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
Cross Site Scripting Prevention (opens in a new tab)
DOM based XSS Prevention (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.6.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.2.6 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Server Side Request Forgery (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Jul 2025, 20:03 UTC

Public exploits and detectiona Nuclei detection template

WeaknessesCWE-611, CWE-918

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats