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exploiting-xxe

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Exploit XML External Entity injection to read local files and reach internal services — in-band file read, php://filter base64 wrappers, SSRF to cloud metadata, blind out-of-band exfiltration with an external DTD, parameter entities, XInclude, and SVG/Office-document vectors. Use when an endpoint accepts XML (`Content-Type: application/xml`, `text/xml`, or a SOAP envelope), a file upload parses SVG, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF, or raw XML, a request body starts with `<?xml`, or the target consumes SAML.

secskills-offense/skills/exploiting-xxe/SKILL.md

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Observed behavior
Network or broad shell
Last checked
Nov 11, 2026

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188
Repository last updated
Sep 4, 2026
License
MIT

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# Exploiting XXE

XXE is what happens when an XML parser is allowed to resolve external entities
the document defines. The attacker writes a DTD that tells the parser to fetch a
file or a URL, and the parser obliges with the server's privileges. The reach is
local file read and SSRF into the internal network. The hard cases are blind —
the parser resolves the entity but never reflects it, so you exfiltrate out of
band or through error messages.

Only against systems you are authorized to test.

## When to Use

- A request body is XML: `Content-Type: application/xml`, `text/xml`, or a SOAP
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