# CVE-2023-42445: Possible local file exfiltration by XML External entity injection

> Attackers can exfiltrate local files via XML External Entity injection when Gradle parses remote XML descriptors.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 16 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** BELL-CVE-2023-42445, BIT-gradle-2023-42445, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-42445, GHSA-mrff-q8qj-xvg8, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-42445

## What is CVE-2023-42445?

CVE-2023-42445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in gradle, published on 6 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Gradle is a build tool with a focus on build automation and support for multi-language development. In some cases, when Gradle parses XML files, resolving XML external entities is not disabled. Combined with an Out Of Band XXE attack (OOB-XXE), just parsing XML can lead to exfiltration of local text files to a remote server. Gradle parses XML files for several purposes. Most of the time, Gradle parses XML files it generated or were already present locally. Only Ivy XML descriptors and Maven POM files can be fetched from remote repositories and parsed by Gradle. In Gradle 7.6.3 and 8.4, resolving XML external entities has been disabled for all use cases to protect against this vulnerability. Gradle will now refuse to parse XML files that have XML external entities.

Weakness: CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-42445?

1 open source package ship an affected version, including gradle. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `gradle` | Bitnami | All versions | 7.6.3, 8.4.0 |

Products: Gradle Gradle.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-42445?

Upgrade gradle to a fixed version for your release line: 7.6.3 or 8.4.0.

## Is CVE-2023-42445 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in gradle

- [CVE-2019-15052](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15052/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6199](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6199/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-29428](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-29428/): Local privilege escalation through system temporary directory (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-22816](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22816/): Gradle fails to disable repositories which can expose builds to malicious artifacts (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2026-22865](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22865/): Gradle's failure to disable repositories failing to answer can expose builds to malicious artifacts (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-42445 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-42445 is a medium-severity vulnerability in gradle, published on 6 Oct 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-42445 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- gradle (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 7.6.3, 8.4.0

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-2023-42445/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42445/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-42445
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-42445
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-42445

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-42445/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.