CVE DATABASE / CVE-2003-1564
CVE-2003-1564
CVSS 6.5 · MEDIUM
Summary
libxml2, possibly before 2.5.0, does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, aka the "billion laughs attack."
CVSS 3.1 breakdown
| Base score | 6.5 (MEDIUM) |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| Attack vector | NETWORK |
| Attack complexity | LOW |
| Privileges required | NONE |
| User interaction | REQUIRED |
| Scope | UNCHANGED |
| Confidentiality | NONE |
| Integrity | NONE |
| Availability | HIGH |
Weakness type (CWE)
Affected products
Xmlsoft libxml2
Check this CVE live
Use our free CVE Lookup tool for the latest NVD record, or browse the full CISA KEV catalog.
References
- http://mail.gnome.org/archives/xml/2008-August/msg00034.html
- http://secunia.com/advisories/31868
- http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/65843/time_to_upgrade_libxml2
- http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2008-0886.html
- http://www.stylusstudio.com/xmldev/200302/post20020.html
- http://xmlsoft.org/news.html
Data: NIST NVD. NVD last modified 2026-04-16. Always verify against the vendor advisory before acting.