CVE Intelligence
Critical Injection exploit reference

CVE-2026-55471 — HAPI FHIR: XXE in XsltUtilities.saxonTransform via unhardened Saxon TransformerFactory

HAPI FHIR is a complete implementation of the HL7 FHIR standard for healthcare interoperability in Java. Prior to 6.9.10, org.hl7.fhir.utilities.XsltUtilities saxonTransform(...) overloads instantiated a bare net.sf.saxon.TransformerFactoryImpl() without ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD or ACCESS_EXTERNAL_STYLESHEET restrictions, allowing an attacker who controls or can tamper with transformed XML to trigger XML External Entity injection for local file disclosure and blind XXE or SSRF to arbitrary URLs reachable from the host. This issue is fixed in version 6.9.10.

Published Jul 8, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+7
  • Technical severity (critical)+10
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.57%
ahead of 46% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Hapifhir
Hl7 Fhir Core and 1 more
CVSS base
9.1
Critical · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Hapifhir Hl7 Fhir Core, Hapifhir Org.hl7.fhir.core).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (injection), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Hapifhir Hl7 Fhir Core < 6.9.10 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Hapifhir Org.hl7.fhir.core version < 6.9.10 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
8.7 CVSS 4.0 High — — security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
8.7 CVSS 4.0 High — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
9.1 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.9 5.2 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-611 · XML External Entity (XXE)

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Look for parameters with command/query metacharacters and unexpected child processes of the service.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSapplication logsendpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · hapifhir/org.hl7.fhir.core
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 9.1
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Jul 8, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

3 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Hapifhir
every CVE for this vendor
Injection
same class
CWE-611
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-81875 HAPI FHIR: SHCParser unbounded DEFLATE decompression causes denial of service 29d
  • CVE-2026-81876 HAPI FHIR: SHCParser DEFLATE infinite loop causes denial of service 29d
  • CVE-2026-62295 HAPI FHIR: JSON utility parser unbounded recursion causes StackOverflow denial of service Aug 7, 2026
  • CVE-2026-62296 HAPI FHIR: XHTML narrative parser unbounded recursion causes StackOverflow denial of service Aug 7, 2026
  • CVE-2026-62293 HAPI FHIR: Stored XSS in scan report via unescaped IG and profile titles Aug 7, 2026
  • CVE-2026-49485 HAPI FHIR: ReDoS via FHIRPath matches()/replaceMatches() in FHIR Validator HTTP Endpoint Jul 17, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-55471 is "HAPI FHIR: XXE in XsltUtilities.saxonTransform via unhardened Saxon TransformerFactory", rated Critical. It affects Hl7 Fhir Core (Hapifhir); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.1 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.57% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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