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CVE-2026-78224 – XXE Injection Leading to Data Exfiltration/DoS – NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect ≤

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Summary

CVE-2026-78224 is a high-severity XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in the XSLT Transformer Step of NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect (also distributed as NextGen Connect). The affected component builds an XML TransformerFactory without the proper security restrictions, allowing an attacker to submit crafted XML that triggers external entity resolution. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthenticated data exfiltration and denial of service against the Mirth Connect server.

Technical details

  • Root cause: The XSLT Transformer Step in Mirth Connect instantiates a "bare" TransformerFactory without disabling external entity/DTD processing, leaving XML transformations vulnerable to XXE injection.
  • Trigger conditions: A message is processed by a deployed channel that includes an XSLT Transformer Step; an attacker sends a malicious XML payload as input to that channel.
  • Attack vector: Network, no authentication or user interaction required — messages can be submitted directly to an exposed channel endpoint since Mirth Connect routes inbound data through independently configured channel pipelines.
  • Impact: Disclosure of local files and internal data accessible to the server process (high confidentiality impact), and potential service disruption/denial of service (low availability impact); no direct integrity impact.

Affected software

  • NextGen Healthcare Mirth Connect (NextGen Connect) version 4.7.1 and earlier

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 8.2 (High)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade to Mirth Connect version 4.7.2 or later via the NextGen Healthcare customer portal.
  • If patching is not immediately possible:
    • Minimize network exposure of Mirth Connect instances; do not expose management or channel-listening interfaces directly to the internet.
    • Place affected systems behind firewalls and isolate them from business/production networks.
    • Require VPN access for any remote administration or integration traffic.
    • Review deployed channels for XSLT Transformer Steps that accept untrusted external input and restrict or disable them until patched.

References

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