# CVE-2020-15303: XML external entity in n/a

> An attacker can exploit XML entity expansion in Infoblox NIOS to cause denial of service or read sensitive data.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Jun 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-p9hm-fgj4-cw8w

## What is CVE-2020-15303?

CVE-2020-15303 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Jun 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Infoblox NIOS before 8.5.2 allows entity expansion during an XML upload operation, a related issue to CVE-2003-1564.

Weakness: CWE-776 (Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15303?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Infoblox Nios.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15303?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-15303 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-15303 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15303 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-36046](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36046/): Privilege escalation in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-36047](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-36047/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-37566](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-37566/): Auth bypass in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-37567](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-37567/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2025-61880](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-61880/): Deserialization in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-15303 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15303 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 28 Jun 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15303 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2020-15303/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15303/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15303
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15303
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15303

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15303/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.