# CVE-2008-3281: Denial of service in n/a > Attackers can cause denial of service via crafted XML documents exploiting recursion in entity expansion within libxml2. - **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Not needed - **Attackable:** Over the internet - **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 27 Aug 2008 - **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024 - **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2008-3281, DSA-1631-1, DTSA-158-1, GHSA-x9c5-c5mj-wjjx, RHSA-2008:0836 ## What is CVE-2008-3281? CVE-2008-3281 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apple Iphone Os, published on 27 Aug 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. ### Official description libxml2 2.6.32 and earlier does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion in an attribute value, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption) via a crafted XML document. Weakness: CWE-776 (Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-3281? It affects 11 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::as | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::as | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::as | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::aw | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::aw | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::aw | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::es | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::es | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::es | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::ws | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::ws | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:2.1::ws | All versions | 0:2.4.19-9.ent | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::as | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::desktop | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::es | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:3::ws | All versions | 0:2.5.10-11 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::as | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::desktop | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:4::es | All versions | 0:2.6.16-12.3 | Products: Apple Iphone Os, Apple Safari, Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation, Vmware Esx, Xmlsoft Libxml2. ## How do I fix CVE-2008-3281? Upgrade to a fixed version. ## Is CVE-2008-3281 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3281 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Iphone Os - [CVE-2021-30666](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30666/): Apple iOS WebKit Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2021-30761](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30761/): Apple iOS WebKit Memory Corruption (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2021-30762](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-30762/): Apple iOS WebKit Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2016-4657](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4657/): Apple iOS Webkit Memory Corruption (high 8.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2019-7286](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7286/): Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption (high 7.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2008-3281 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2008-3281 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Apple Iphone Os, published on 27 Aug 2008. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link. Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2008-3281 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Apple Iphone Os. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3281/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2008-3281 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2008-3281 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2008-3281 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-3281/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.