CVE-2021-40690
CVSS v3
7.5
HIGH
EPSS Score
7.4 %
exploit probability, as of 2026-10-09
CISA KEV
No
known exploited
Exploitation
—
SSVC status
Description
All versions of Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java prior to 2.2.3 and 2.1.7 are vulnerable to an issue where the "secureValidation" property is not passed correctly when creating a KeyInfo from a KeyInfoReference element. This allows an attacker to abuse an XPath Transform to extract any local .xml files in a RetrievalMethod element.
Technical details
- CVSS v3 Vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- Published
- 2021-09-17
- Last Modified
- 2026-10-08
Frequently asked questions
What is CVE-2021-40690?
All versions of Apache Santuario - XML Security for Java prior to 2.2.3 and 2.1.7 are vulnerable to an issue where the "secureValidation" property is not passed correctly when creating a KeyInfo from a KeyInfoReference element. This allows an attacker to abuse an XPath Transform to extract any local .xml files in a RetrievalMethod element.
Is CVE-2021-40690 actively exploited?
Active exploitation of CVE-2021-40690 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 7.4% on 2026-10-09, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-40690?
CVE-2021-40690 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
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