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SCA: security update for org.apache.opennlp:opennlp-tools (GHSA-4v8g-86x5-3vrc)

high Tenable Cloud Security Plugin ID 441554

Description

There are packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability referenced in the following CVE:

 - XML External Entity (XXE) via Unsanitized Dictionary Parsing in Apache OpenNLP DictionaryEntryPersistor
 Versions Affected: before 2.5.9, before 3.0.0-M3 Description: The DictionaryEntryPersistor class
 initializes a static SAXParserFactory at class-load time without enabling FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING or
 disabling DTD processing. When create(InputStream, EntryInserter) is invoked, the only feature set on the
 XMLReader is namespace support — external entity resolution and DOCTYPE declarations remain fully enabled.
 An attacker who can supply a crafted dictionary file (e.g., a stop-word list or domain dictionary)
 containing a malicious DOCTYPE declaration can trigger local file disclosure via file:// entity references
 or server-side request forgery via http:// entity references during SAX parsing, before the application
 processes a single dictionary entry. This is inconsistent with the project's own XmlUtil.createSaxParser()
 helper, which correctly sets FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING and disallow-doctype-decl and is used by all other
 XML parsing paths in the codebase. The public Dictionary(InputStream) constructor delegates directly to
 this method and is the documented API for loading user-supplied dictionaries, making untrusted input a
 realistic scenario. Mitigation: 2.x users should upgrade to 2.5.9. 3.x users should upgrade to 3.0.0-M3.
 Users who cannot upgrade immediately should ensure that all dictionary files are sourced from trusted
 origins and should consider wrapping the Dictionary(InputStream) constructor with input validation that
 rejects any XML containing a DOCTYPE declaration before it reaches the parser. (CVE-2026-40682)

Solution

Update the org.apache.opennlp:opennlp-tools library and its related packages to version 2.5.9 or later.

See Also

https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4v8g-86x5-3vrc

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 441554

Version: Revision 1.6

Type: Local

Family: SCA Checks

Published: 5/8/2026

Updated: 7/1/2026

Supported Sensors: Tenable Cloud Security, Tenable Self-Hosted Container Security

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 4.3

Percentile: 53.59

Vendor

Vendor Severity: Critical

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 9.4

Temporal Score: 7

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:N

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-40682

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 6.5

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 5/4/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/4/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-40682

cwe: CWE-611