CVE-2026-40991 XML External Entity (XXE) injection when documenting untrusted XML content
Attackers can exploit XXE injection in Spring REST Docs when documenting malicious remote APIs, potentially exposing sensitive data or causing denial of service.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-40991?
CVE-2026-40991 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Spring REST Docs, published on 9 Jun 2026. 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
When using spring-restdocs-webtestclient or spring-restdocs-restassured to document a remote API accessed over HTTP, an attacker who compromises the API or tricks the user into documenting a malicious API can perform an XXE injection attack when the documentation-generating tests are next executed.
Affected versions: Spring REST Docs 4.0.0; 3.0.0 through 3.0.5; 2.0.0.RELEASE through 2.0.8.RELEASE.
Weakness: CWE-611
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40991?
12 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured and org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | All versions to 2.0.8.RELEASE | None |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | All versions to 2.0.8.RELEASE | None |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.6 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.6 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.1 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.1 |
6 more packages
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | All versions to 2.0.8.RELEASE | None |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | All versions to 2.0.8.RELEASE | None |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.6 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | From 3.0.0 | 3.0.6 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.1 |
org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-webtestclient Maven | From 4.0.0 | 4.0.1 |
Products include Broadcom Spring Rest Docs.
How do I fix CVE-2026-40991?
Upgrade org.springframework.restdocs:spring-restdocs-restassured to a fixed version for your release line: 3.0.6 or 4.0.1.
Is CVE-2026-40991 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40991 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as CLSA-2026-1793192311, GHSA-6rpq-6vv2-5222, ROOT-APP-MAVEN-CVE-2026-40991.