# CVE-2015-0252: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via crafted XML data in the Apache Xerces-C library.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/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:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 24 Mar 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2015-0252, DLA-181-1, DSA-3199-1, ECHO-0175-0720-6538, GHSA-394g-p2rq-jhvm, MGASA-2015-0136, RHSA-2015:1193, SUSE-SU-2015:0597-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2015-0252

## What is CVE-2015-0252?

CVE-2015-0252 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 24 Mar 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

internal/XMLReader.cpp in Apache Xerces-C before 3.1.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (segmentation fault and crash) via crafted XML data.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-0252?

It affects 3 products.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `xerces-c` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::client | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.ael7b_1 |
| `xerces-c-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.ael7b_1 |
| `xerces-c-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.ael7b_1 |
| `xerces-c-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::server | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.ael7b_1 |
| `xerces-c` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-devel` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:7::workstation | All versions | 0:3.1.1-7.el7_1 |
| `xerces-c` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 | All versions | 3.1.1-4.1 |
| `xerces-c` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 12 | All versions | 3.1.1-4.1 |

Products: Apache Xerces-C\+\+, Debian Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-0252?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2015-0252 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-0252 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Apache Xerces-C XML Parser < 3.1.2 - Denial of Service (PoC) (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2017-12627](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12627/): Null dereference in Apache Xerces C++ (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-2099](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2099/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2023-37536](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-37536/): HCL BigFix Platform is vulnerable to an integer overflow in xerces-c++ 3.2.3 (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2024-23807](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23807/): Apache Xerces C++: Use-after-free on external DTD scan (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2018-1311](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1311/): Use after free in Apache Xerces-C (high 8.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-0252 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-0252 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 24 Mar 2015. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-0252 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian 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-2015-0252/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0252/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-0252
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-0252
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-0252

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-0252/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.