Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-20369

XXE in Splunk 9.2.0 – 9.2.8

XXE
Published
01 October 2025
Modified
08 October 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0028 21th percentile
Risk Priority 37 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-20369 is a medium-severity XML Entity Expansion (CWE-776) vulnerability in Splunk Splunk. Its CVSS base score is 4.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A02:2025 Security Misconfiguration

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 9.4.4, 9.3.6, and 9.2.8, and Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 9.3.2411.108, 9.3.2408.118 and 9.2.2406.123, a low privilege user that does not hold the "admin" or "power" Splunk roles could perform an extensible markup language (XML)…

more

external entity (XXE) injection through the dashboard tab label field. The XXE injection has the potential to cause denial of service (DoS) attacks.

CWE(s)
CWE-776CWE-611

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499.003 Application Exhaustion Flood Impact
Adversaries may target resource intensive features of applications to cause a denial of service (DoS), denying availability to those applications.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
T1213 Data from Information Repositories Collection
Adversaries may leverage information repositories to mine valuable information.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-32706Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-36990Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2025-20320Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2026-20139Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2023-40593Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2023-40594Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2024-45736Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2025-20322Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2025-20228Same product: Splunk Splunk
CVE-2025-20388Same product: Splunk Splunk

Affected Assets

splunk
splunk
9.2.0 — 9.2.8 · 9.3.0 — 9.3.6 · 9.4.0 — 9.4.4
splunk
splunk cloud platform
9.2.2406 — 9.2.2406.123 · 9.3.2408 — 9.3.2408.118 · 9.3.2411 — 9.3.2411.108

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.5.1
  • V15.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

CM-6 Configuration Settings good match

Secure configuration settings can disable DTD processing or cap entity expansion in XML parsers.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing can discover XXE flaws through targeted XML parsing tests.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation can enforce limits on XML entity expansion and recursion depth before parsing occurs.

CM-7 Least Functionality partial match

Least-functionality configuration can prohibit unsafe DTD features or external entity resolution.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of improper recursive entity handling in XML code.

PR.PS-01 mostly match
prevents

Hardened configuration baselines can disable or limit DTD entity expansion in XML parsers.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying and recording vulnerabilities can discover XML entity expansion flaws before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates XXE-vulnerable parser versions but is only one aspect of software maintenance.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect and block XML entity-expansion vulnerabilities before deployment.

A.8.8 Management of technical vulnerabilities mostly match
finds

Vulnerability management identifies and patches XML libraries with unsafe default entity settings.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and parser hardening that can prevent unbounded entity expansion.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly call for limits on XML entity recursion and DTD processing.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe parser configurations that enable entity expansion attacks.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require disabling or restricting recursive entity references in XML parsers.

References