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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-53752: plutext docx4j · Uncontrolled Recursion

Affects plutext docx4jSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 11.5.14 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.5High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 50% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 11.5.14
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 Sep 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 30 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade docx4j and docx4j-core and org.docx4j/docx4j to 11.5.14.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
plutextdocx4jAffected
  • <11.5.14
Fixed in
  • 11.5.14
org.docx4jdocx4j-coreAffected
  • <11.5.14
Fixed in
  • 11.5.14
Mavenorg.docx4j/docx4jpkg:maven/org.docx4j/docx4jOther threatsAffected
  • <11.5.14
Fixed in
  • 11.5.14

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade docx4j to version 11.5.14 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed by adding cycle detection and exception handling. If upgrading is not immediately possible, isolate document processing in disposable worker threads or environments that can safely contain StackOverflowError to reduce the impact of this issue.

Description

docx4j is an open source Java library for creating, editing, and saving OpenXML packages, including DOCX, PPTX, and XLSX files. Prior to 11.5.14, PropertyResolver and adjacent helpers recursively follow the WordprocessingML w:basedOn style inheritance chain without cycle detection. A well-formed DOCX containing mutually based styles causes unbounded recursion in PropertyResolver.fillPPrStack and related effective-style resolution paths, resulting in StackOverflowError. Server-side conversion and table-of-contents processing of an untrusted document can terminate a worker thread, degrade a thread pool, or deny service, although isolation in disposable workers or safe containment of StackOverflowError can reduce the practical effect. The fix adds cyclic-style tracking and CyclicStylesException handling. This issue is fixed in version 11.5.14.

References

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