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Fencer Vulns
medium 5.9

CVE-2023-23926 json

XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability in apoc.import.graphml

published 2023-02-16 3 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also GHSA-6wxg-wh7f-rqpr , EUVD-2023-0647

cvss
5.9
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.9%
EPSS 0.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 59%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

APOC (Awesome Procedures on Cypher) is an add-on library for Neo4j. An XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability found in the apoc.import.graphml procedure of APOC core plugin prior to version 5.5.0 and 4.4.0.14 (4.4 branch) in Neo4j graph database. XML External Entity (XXE) injection occurs when the XML parser allows external entities to be resolved. The XML parser used by the apoc.import.graphml procedure was not configured in a secure way and therefore allowed this. External entities can be used to read local files, send HTTP requests, and perform denial-of-service attacks on the application. Abusing the XXE vulnerability enabled assessors to read local files remotely. Although with the level of privileges assessors had this was limited to one-line files. With the ability to write to the database, any file could have been read. Additionally, assessors noted, with local testing, the server could be crashed by passing in improperly formatted XML. The minimum version containing a patch for this vulnerability is 5.5.0. Those who cannot upgrade the library can control the allowlist of the procedures that can be used in your system.

Patch / fix

  • maven org.neo4j.procedure:apoc-core 4.4.0.14, 5.5.0
  • neo4j awesome_procedures_on_cyper 5.5.0

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
19 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.89% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 59% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H
NVD 3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
GitHub 3.1 5.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
maven org.neo4j.procedure:apoc-core
>=5.0.0, <5.5.0
<4.4.0.14
5.5.0
4.4.0.14

Affected products

  • neo4j apoc

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-611 Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.