CVE-2003-1564
6.5 · MEDIUMOverview
CVE-2003-1564 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting xmlsoft libxml2. It was published on December 31, 2003 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
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."
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from xmlsoft. Update libxml2 to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| xmlsoft | libxml2 | >= 0, < 2.5.0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2003-1564?
CVE-2003-1564 is a medium-severity vulnerability affecting xmlsoft libxml2. It was published on December 31, 2003 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2003-1564?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated MEDIUM. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2003-1564?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from xmlsoft. Update libxml2 to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2003-1564?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2003-1564 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
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