CVE-2012-0881 Denial of service in Apache Xerces2

High 7.5 Published 30 Oct 2017 Updated 6 Aug 2024

Remote attackers can cause denial of service via CPU consumption in Apache Xerces2 Java Parser through crafted XML messages triggering hash collisions.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2012-0881?

CVE-2012-0881 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 30 Oct 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Apache Xerces2 Java Parser before 2.12.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a crafted message to an XML service, which triggers hash table collisions.

Weakness: CWE-399

Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-0881?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including xerces:xercesImpl. It affects 1 product.

Package	Affected	Fixed in
`xerces:xercesImpl` Maven	All versions	`2.12.0`
`xerces:xercesImpl` Maven	All versions	`2.12.0`

Products include Apache Xerces2 Java.

How do I fix CVE-2012-0881?

Upgrade xerces:xercesImpl to 2.12.0 or later.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2012-0881 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-0881 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-WR59127, DEBIAN-CVE-2012-0881, GHSA-vmqm-g3vh-847m, UBUNTU-CVE-2012-0881.