CVE-2017-5644 Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs in Apache POI
Remote attackers can cause denial of service via CPU consumption using crafted OOXML files in Apache POI.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2017-5644?
CVE-2017-5644 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Apache POI, published on 24 Mar 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Apache POI in versions prior to release 3.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a specially crafted OOXML file, aka an XML Entity Expansion (XEE) attack.
Weakness: CWE-776
Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-5644?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.poi:poi. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.apache.poi:poi Maven | All versions | 3.15 |
org.apache.poi:poi Maven | All versions | 3.15 |
Products include Apache Poi.
How do I fix CVE-2017-5644?
Upgrade org.apache.poi:poi to 3.15 or later.
Is CVE-2017-5644 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-5644 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Apache POI
- CVE-2017-12626 Denial of Service in Apache POI
- CVE-2022-26336 A carefully crafted TNEF file can cause an out of memory exception
- CVE-2019-12415 Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference in Apache POI
- CVE-2016-5000 Apache POI's XLSX2CSV Example XML External Entity (XXE) Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-31672 Apache POI OOXML Vulnerable to Improper Input Validation in OOXML File Parsing
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2017-5644, GHSA-78vv-qj73-h9m5, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-5644.