Quick answer
Before checking SOAP envelope structure, the response must be well-formed XML.
SOAP Malformed XML
Before checking SOAP envelope structure, the response must be well-formed XML. Unclosed tags, wrong nesting, or invalid characters cause the parser to fail.
Common causes
- Unclosed tag or mismatched closing tag in the SOAP XML.
- Invalid or unquoted attribute; invalid characters in content.
- Wrong encoding or BOM; truncated response.
How to fix
- Validate the response as plain XML first with an XML validator.
- Fix all reported line/column errors (unclosed tags, mismatched names, attributes).
- Then run SOAP validation again.
Examples
Bad
<soap:Envelope><soap:Body><x>unclosed</soap:Body></soap:Envelope>
Good
<soap:Envelope><soap:Body><x>closed</x></soap:Body></soap:Envelope>
FAQ
- Is SOAP response always XML?
- Yes. SOAP 1.1 and 1.2 use XML; the response must be well-formed XML first.
- What if the HTTP body is empty?
- SOAP validators require a non-empty body; empty response is invalid.
Fix it now
Try in validator (prefill this example)