CVE-2026-31248

XML Entity Expansion (XXE) Exploitation Causing DoS in Docling METS GBS Backend

Published May 11, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 7.5 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Docling's METS GBS backend is vulnerable to XML Entity Expansion (XXE) attacks thru 2.61.0. The backend extracts and validates XML files from .tar.gz archives using etree.fromstring() without disabling entity resolution. An attacker can craft a malicious XML file with nested entity definitions (XML Bomb) and package it into a .tar.gz archive. When processed by Docling, the exponential expansion of entities during XML parsing leads to excessive resource consumption, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on the system running the Docling parser.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-9f4q-q82q-4359 Docling's METS GBS backend is vulnerable to XML Entity Expansion (XXE) attacks
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Title XML Entity Expansion (XXE) Exploitation Causing DoS in Docling METS GBS Backend
Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-776
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Docling-project
Docling-project docling
Vendors & Products Docling-project
Docling-project docling
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Docling's METS GBS backend is vulnerable to XML Entity Expansion (XXE) attacks thru 2.61.0. The backend extracts and validates XML files from .tar.gz archives using etree.fromstring() without disabling entity resolution. An attacker can craft a malicious XML file with nested entity definitions (XML Bomb) and package it into a .tar.gz archive. When processed by Docling, the exponential expansion of entities during XML parsing leads to excessive resource consumption, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on the system running the Docling parser.
References
Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
mitre
Published
Updated
May 12, 2026, 6:44 PM
Reserved
Mar 9, 2026, 12:00 AM
Status
Deferred
Published
May 11, 2026, 5:16 PM
Modified
Nov 8, 2026, 4:10 PM