CVE-2025-53689: 
Java vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A critical XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability has been identified in Apache Jackrabbit, tracked as CVE-2025-53689. The vulnerability affects jackrabbit-spi-commons and jackrabbit-core components in versions prior to 2.23.2. This security flaw was discovered by Lars Krapf from Adobe and was further investigated by Dylan Pindur and Adam Kues from Assetnote (Apache List, Security Online).

The vulnerability stems from the usage of an unsecured document build to load privileges, which can lead to blind XXE attacks. The affected versions include Apache Jackrabbit (org.apache.jackrabbit:jackrabbit-spi-commons) 2.20.0 before 2.20.17, 2.22.0 before 2.22.1, and 2.23.0-beta before 2.23.2-beta. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, and is classified as CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference) (NVD, Apache List).

The vulnerability can potentially lead to data exfiltration, denial of service, or internal file exposure. This is particularly critical for organizations using Jackrabbit in environments that accept user-supplied XML, such as RESTful APIs processing XML, CMS platforms with import/export functionality, and workflows involving automated XML processing from third parties (Security Online).

Apache recommends users upgrade to the latest patched versions based on their Java environment: version 2.20.17 for Java 8, version 2.22.1 for Java 11, or version 2.23.2-beta for Java 11 beta track users. It's important to note that earlier versions (up to 2.20.16) are no longer supported, making it crucial for users to move to supported, secure releases (Apache List, Security Online).