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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2018-11788

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2019-01-07
  • Fixed in4.1.7
  • WeaknessCWE-611

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Apache Karaf provides a features deployer, which allows users to "hot deploy" a features XML by dropping the file directly in the deploy folder. The features XML is parsed by XMLInputFactory class. Apache Karaf XMLInputFactory class doesn't contain any mitigation codes against XXE. This is a potential security risk as an user can inject external XML entities in Apache Karaf version prior to 4.1.7 or 4.2.2. It has been fixed in Apache Karaf 4.1.7 and 4.2.2 releases.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2019-01-0716:29CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2026-10-2319:23First public proof of conceptPoC-in-GitHub

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2018-11788?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2018-11788?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Apache karaf
BranchAffectedFixed in
4.1< 4.1.74.1.7
4.2≥ 4.2.0, ≤ 4.2.1no fix published
4.2= 4.2.0no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Apache karaf to 4.1.7

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-10-23 19:23 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
1 repository, unverifiedbrianwrf/CVE-2018-11788
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • NVDCVSS 3.09.8read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.07.5read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-611read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score7.3 %2026-10-22
  • PoC-in-GitHubproof of concept1read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2019-01-07
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-11788?

Apache Karaf provides a features deployer, which allows users to "hot deploy" a features XML by dropping the file directly in the deploy folder. The features XML is parsed by XMLInputFactory class. Apache Karaf XMLInputFactory class doesn't contain any mitigation codes against XXE. This is a potential security risk as an user can inject external XML entities in Apache Karaf version prior to 4.1.7 or 4.2.2. It has been fixed in Apache Karaf 4.1.7 and 4.2.2 releases.

Is CVE-2018-11788 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2018-11788 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 7.3% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-11788?

CVE-2018-11788 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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