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Feb 12, 2024 · Information Security

How XML External Entity (XXE) Attacks Exploit DTDs and How to Defend Them

This article explains fundamental XML concepts, DTD and entity definitions, demonstrates common XXE attack scenarios such as file reading, internal network probing, DoS and XInclude exploitation with Java code examples, and provides practical security hardening techniques including disabling XInclude, DTD parsing, and external entity resolution.