GeoServer - XXE (CVE-2025-30220)
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.
psychologyCrowdSec Analysis
CVE-2025-30220 is a critical XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in GeoServer, stemming from improper handling of external XML schemas in the GeoTools Schema class and related components. This flaw allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to exploit XML parsing to access sensitive files, exfiltrate data, or potentially perform limited denial-of-service or server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks.
CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 17th of September 2025.
Insights from the CrowdSec network reveal that the attackers trying to exploit CVE-2025-30220 are composed of a fairly even mix of opportunistic and targeted actors. Some attackers employ preliminary reconnaissance, while others use indiscriminate scanning. CrowdSec network telemetry also shows that exploitation of CVE-2025-30220 has significantly declined over the past week. Attack volumes are well below the long-term average, suggesting attackers are rapidly losing interest. The vulnerability appears to be falling out of active use across most threat landscapes.
Attackers exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted XML payloads to GeoServer WFS endpoints such as /geoserver/wfs, /geoserver/ows, /wfs, or /ows, attempting to trigger XXE processing and exfiltrate data or perform SSRF.
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| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| CVE Published | 2025-06-10 |
| Rule Released | 2025-09-17 |
| CrowdSec First Seen | 2025-09-19 |
Related Weaknesses
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.
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.
Remediation & Protection
External References
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/security/advisories/GHSA-2p76-gc46-5fvc
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/pull/8803
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/pull/8812
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/pull/8757
- https://github.com/geotools/geotools/security/advisories/GHSA-826p-4gcg-35vw
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/security/advisories/GHSA-jj54-8f66-c5pc
- https://docs.geoserver.org/latest/en/user/production/config.html#production-config-external-entities
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2025/CVE-2025-30220.yaml