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
Version statuses are supplied by the assigning organization. Consult the original record for detailed ranges and platform conditions.
geonetwork core-geonetwork
>= 4.3.0, < 4.4.12affected< 4.2.17affected
References
- https://github.com/geonetwork/core-geonetwork/security/advisories/GHSA-x898-729x-cc3r ↗
- https://docs.geonetwork-opensource.org/4.2/overview/change-log/version-4.2.17 ↗
- https://docs.geonetwork-opensource.org/4.4/overview/change-log/version-4.4.12 ↗
- https://thehackernews.com/2026/09/geonetwork-fixes-unauthenticated-rce.html ↗