Vulnerability · Published Sep 3, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-58400GeoNetwork vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via unsafe Saxon XSLT processor configuration in formatter
Critical 9.1
In plain English
A critical-severity code injection in core-geonetwork from geonetwork. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.2% (higher than 68% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
GeoNetwork is a catalog application to manage spatially referenced resources. Prior to versions 4.4.12 and 4.2.17, the Saxon XSLT processor used to render formatters is configured without secure processing (`FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING`) and without disabling Java extension functions (`ALLOW_EXTERNAL_FUNCTIONS`). Any stylesheet loaded by GeoNetwork can therefore invoke `java.lang.Runtime.exec()` or `java.lang.ProcessBuilder` directly, achieving arbitrary command execution as the GeoNetwork process user. A user with sufficient privileges to upload a formatter can deliver a `.xsl` file containing Java extension call that execute arbitrary OS commands with the privileges of the GeoNetwork process. The issue is patched in GeoNetwork versions 4.4.12 and 4.2.17.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| geonetwork | core-geonetwork | >= 4.3.0, < 4.4.12< 4.2.17 |
Weakness: CWE-94, CWE-470 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/security/advisories/GHSA-x898-729x-cc3r x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://docs.geonetwork-opensource.org/4.2/overview/change-log/version-4.2.17 x_refsource_MISC
- https://docs.geonetwork-opensource.org/4.4/overview/change-log/version-4.4.12 x_refsource_MISC
- https://thehackernews.com/2026/09/geonetwork-fixes-unauthenticated-rce.html x_refsource_MISC