VulnerabilityPublished 29 Jul 2026

CVE-2026-54082: veraPDF-validation · XML External Entity (XXE)

Affects veraPDF-validationSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium : upgrade to 1.31.71 or 1.30.2 when convenient.

Data as of 27 Oct 2026, 17:11 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 33% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 1.31.71, 1.30.2

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

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

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: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
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: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
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 veraPDF-validation and verapdf/veraPDF-validation to 1.31.71 or 1.30.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
veraPDFveraPDF-validation	Affected >=1.31.1 <1.31.71	Fixed in 1.31.71
veraPDFveraPDF-validation	Affected >=1.17.35 <1.30.2	Fixed in 1.30.2
GitHubverapdf/veraPDF-validation`pkg:github/verapdf/veraPDF-validation`Other threats	Affected >=1.25.73 <1.30.2 <1.31.71	Fixed in 1.30.2 1.31.71

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade veraPDF-validation to version 1.30.2 or later, or to version 1.31.71 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. Patch status is not explicitly stated as 'official-fix' or 'temporary-fix' in the vendor advisory, but the description confirms the issue is fixed in these versions. No other mitigation or workaround is indicated.

Description

veraPDF-validation versions from 1.25.73 up to but not including 1.30.2, and versions before 1.31.71, contain an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability. This vulnerability exists in the PDFAValidator.validate(...) and GFPDAcroForm.getdynamicRender() functions, where XML parsing of rich-text annotations, form-field values, and XFA configurations in untrusted PDFs can lead to local file disclosure and outbound network requests. The issue is fixed in versions 1.30.2 and 1.31.71.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to limited confidentiality loss through local file disclosure and potential outbound network requests initiated by the vulnerable XML parser. There is no indication of integrity or availability impact. No known exploits are reported in the wild.

Summary

The veraPDF-validation product suffers from a CWE-611: Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference vulnerability affecting versions >=1.25.73 <1.30.2 and <1.31.71. The vulnerability arises due to the default DocumentBuilderFactory XML parser processing untrusted PDF content, specifically rich-text annotations, form-field values, and XFA configurations, allowing attackers to trigger XML External Entity processing. This can result in local file disclosure and outbound network requests. The vulnerability is addressed in versions 1.30.2 and 1.31.71.

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).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Aug 2026, 17:57 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-611

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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