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  5. CVE-2026-53752

CVE-2026-53752: docx4j: Stack Overflow via Cyclic `w:basedOn` Style Chain leads to Denial of Service

August 17, 2026

docx4j’s PropertyResolver and several adjacent helpers recursively walk the OpenXML style inheritance chain (w:basedOn) without cycle detection.

A WordprocessingML document containing a cyclic style chain (for example, Style A based on B and Style B based on A) causes unbounded recursion and a java.lang.StackOverflowError within the property-resolution code path.

These helpers are used by operations that require effective style resolution, including common conversion and TOC-related paths. As a result, most server-side pipelines that accept a user-supplied docx and process it through docx4j can likely be crashed by a file containing a cyclic style reference.

References

  • github.com/advisories/GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43
  • github.com/plutext/docx4j/releases/tag/docx4j-11.5.14
  • github.com/plutext/docx4j/security/advisories/GHSA-gc95-3vw8-vg43
  • nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53752

Code Behaviors & Features

Detect and mitigate CVE-2026-53752 with GitLab Dependency Scanning

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Affected versions

All versions before 11.5.14

Fixed versions

  • 11.5.14

Solution

Upgrade to version 11.5.14 or above.

Impact 7.5 HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Learn more about CVSS

Weakness

  • CWE-674: Uncontrolled Recursion
  • CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling

Source file

maven/org.docx4j/docx4j-core/CVE-2026-53752.yml

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