# CVE-2013-0338: Denial of service in n/a > Attackers can cause denial of service via CPU and memory exhaustion by providing malicious XML files with entity expansion to applications using libxml2. - **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P`) - **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:** 25 Apr 2013 - **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024 - **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2013-0338, GHSA-pvmp-h985-7qh3, RHSA-2013:0581 ## What is CVE-2013-0338? CVE-2013-0338 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 25 Apr 2013. 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 2.9.0 and earlier allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) via an XML file containing an entity declaration with long replacement text and many references to this entity, aka "internal entity expansion" with linear complexity. Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2013-0338? It affects 3 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.26-2.1.21.el5_9.1 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.26-2.1.21.el5_9.1 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.26-2.1.21.el5_9.1 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:5::server | All versions | 0:2.6.26-2.1.21.el5_9.1 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::client | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::computenode | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::server | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-python` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | | `libxml2-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:6::workstation | All versions | 0:2.7.6-12.el6_4.1 | Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Opensuse Opensuse, Xmlsoft Libxml2. ## How do I fix CVE-2013-0338? Upgrade to a fixed version. ## Is CVE-2013-0338 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2013-0338 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux - [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2013-0338 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2013-0338 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 25 Apr 2013. 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-2013-0338 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2013-0338/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0338/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2013-0338 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2013-0338 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2013-0338 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-0338/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.