# CVE-2018-11762: Moderate severity vulnerability that affects org.apache.tika:tika-core

> An attacker can overwrite arbitrary files on the system by providing a crafted input file with an absolute path when the extract directory is not specified.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 19 Sep 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-11762, GHSA-w6g3-v46q-5p28, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-11762

## What is CVE-2018-11762?

CVE-2018-11762 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apache Tika, published on 19 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Apache Tika 0.9 to 1.18, in a rare edge case where a user does not specify an extract directory on the commandline (--extract-dir=) and the input file has an embedded file with an absolute path, such as "C:/evil.bat", tika-app would overwrite that file.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-11762?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.tika:tika-core. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `org.apache.tika:tika-core` | Maven | From 0.9 | 1.19 |
| `org.apache.tika:tika-core` | Maven | From 0.9 | 1.19 |

Products: Apache Tika.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-11762?

Upgrade org.apache.tika:tika-core to 1.19 or later.

## Is CVE-2018-11762 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11762 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Apache Tika

- [CVE-2019-10088](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10088/): Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in Apache Tika (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-66516](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-66516/): Apache Tika has XXE vulnerability (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2025-54988](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-54988/): Apache Tika PDF parser module: XXE vulnerability in PDFParser's handling of XFA (high 8.4)
- [CVE-2018-1335](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1335/): Command injection in org.apache.tika:tika-core (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2019-10094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10094/): Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling in Apache Tika (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-11762 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-11762 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apache Tika, published on 19 Sep 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-11762 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- org.apache.tika:tika-core (Maven): affected from 0.9; fixed in 1.19
- org.apache.tika:tika-core (Maven): affected from 0.9; fixed in 1.19

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11762/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11762/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-11762
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-11762
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-11762

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11762/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.