Security Bulletin
Summary
IBM SPSS Modeler is affected by vulnerabilities in Apache OpenNLP. This has been addressed in the remediation section.
Vulnerability Details
CVEID: CVE-2026-63317
DESCRIPTION: Arbitrary Class Instantiation via XML Feature Generator Descriptor and Format Name in Apache OpenNLP
Versions Affected:
- before 2.5.10
- before 3.0.0-M5
Description:
Three code paths in Apache OpenNLP load a class by its fully-qualified name via Class.forName() and invoke its no-arg constructor without any prior validation of the class name or its type.
The affected paths are:
(1) GeneratorFactory, which reads the class attribute of generator elements in an XML feature generator descriptor; such descriptors are embedded as artifacts in model archives (e.g. TokenNameFinder and POSTagger models) and are parsed during model loading, so an attacker who can supply a crafted model archive controls the class name directly.
(2) StreamFactoryRegistry.getFactory(Class, String), which falls back to interpreting an unregistered format name as the fully-qualified class name of an ObjectStreamFactory; this is exploitable in applications that pass untrusted format names (e.g. exposing the -format parameter of the command-line tooling to external input).
(3) StringInterners, which instantiates the interner implementation named by the opennlp.interner.class system property; this value is normally deployer-controlled, so it is hardened as defense in depth rather than being independently attacker-reachable.
Exploitation requires a class with attacker-useful side effects in its static initializer or no-arg constructor (JNDI lookup, outbound network I/O, filesystem access) to be present on the classpath, so this is not drop-in remote code execution. T
Mitigation:
Upgrade to a fixed release.
The fix routes all three paths through ExtensionLoader.instantiateExtension(...), which consults a package-prefix allowlist before Class.forName() is invoked, so a disallowed class is never loaded, initialized, or constructed.
Classes under the opennlp. prefix remain permitted by default. Deployments that load models referencing feature generator factories, object stream factories, or string interners outside opennlp.* must opt those packages in, either programmatically via ExtensionLoader.registerAllowedPackage(String) before the first model load, or by setting the OPENNLP_EXT_ALLOWED_PACKAGES system property to a comma-separated list of allowed package prefixes.
Users who cannot upgrade immediately should ensure all model files and format names are sourced from trusted origins and should audit their classpath for classes with side-effecting static initializers or constructors.
CWE: CWE-470: Use of Externally-Controlled Input to Select Classes or Code ('Unsafe Reflection')
CVSS Source: CISA ADP
CVSS Base score: 5.6
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L)
CVEID: CVE-2026-82617
DESCRIPTION: The two built-in name-finder patterns exposed by
opennlp.tools.namefind.RegexNameFinderFactory - DEFAULT_REGEX_NAME_FINDER.EMAIL
and DEFAULT_REGEX_NAME_FINDER.URL - contain ambiguous nested quantifiers. An
application that obtains these finders through
RegexNameFinderFactory.getDefaultRegexNameFinders(...) and then applies them to
untrusted text through RegexNameFinder.find(String[]) or RegexNameFinder.find(String)
can be driven into super-linear backtracking or into unbounded matcher recursion by a
small crafted input.
For the EMAIL pattern, a long run of local-part characters that is never followed by an
@ forces the matcher to re-scan to end-of-input from every starting offset. Cost grows
quadratically with input length: an input of approximately 32 KB consumes several seconds
of CPU in a single find() call and returns no match, and each doubling of the input
multiplies the cost roughly four-fold.
For the URL pattern, the query-string sub-expression nests a capturing repetition inside
an outer repetition. The JDK matcher recurses once per query token, so an input of
approximately 4 KB containing many &-separated tokens exhausts the thread stack and
causes java.lang.StackOverflowError to propagate out of find(), terminating the
calling thread. On a thread created with a smaller stack (for example -Xss512k, typical
of server worker pools) approximately 1 KB is sufficient.
In both cases an attacker who can supply text for analysis can convert a single request
into seconds to minutes of pinned CPU, or into an abrupt thread death, denying service to
the embedding application. No authentication, special configuration, or model file is
required beyond the application having selected one of the two built-in finders.
This issue affects Apache OpenNLP: from 2.0.0 through 2.5.11; from 3.0.0-M1 through
3.0.0-M5.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.5.12, or to 3.0.0-M6 for users tracking the
3.0.0 milestone line, which fix the issue.
CWE: CWE-1333: Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity
CVSS Source: NVD
CVSS Base score: 9.8
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Affected Products and Versions
| Affected Product(s) | Version(s) |
| IBM SPSS Modeler | 19.0.0.0 |
Remediation/Fixes
IBM strongly recommends addressing the vulnerability now.
|
Affected Product(s) | Version(s) | Remediation/Fix/Instructions |
| IBM SPSS Modeler | 19.0.0.0 | Fix is available here |
Workarounds and Mitigations
None
Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins
References
Acknowledgement
Change History
09 Oct 2026: Initial Publication
*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.
Disclaimer
According to the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) is an "industry open standard designed to convey vulnerability severity and help to determine urgency and priority of response." IBM PROVIDES THE CVSS SCORES ""AS IS"" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. CUSTOMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF ANY ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL SECURITY VULNERABILITY. In addition to other efforts to address potential vulnerabilities, IBM periodically updates the record of components contained in our product offerings. As part of that effort, if IBM identifies previously unidentified packages in a product/service inventory, we address relevant vulnerabilities regardless of CVE date. Inclusion of an older CVEID does not demonstrate that the referenced product has been used by IBM since that date, nor that IBM was aware of a vulnerability as of that date. We are making clients aware of relevant vulnerabilities as we become aware of them. "Affected Products and Versions" referenced in IBM Security Bulletins are intended to be only products and versions that are supported by IBM and have not passed their end-of-support or warranty date. Thus, failure to reference unsupported or extended-support products and versions in this Security Bulletin does not constitute a determination by IBM that they are unaffected by the vulnerability. Reference to one or more unsupported versions in this Security Bulletin shall not create an obligation for IBM to provide fixes for any unsupported or extended-support products or versions.
Document Location
Worldwide
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Document Information
Modified date:
09 October 2026
Initial Publish date:
09 October 2026
UID
ibm17291881