dbcve.org
Shibboleth SpApplication · Internet2

CVE-2009-3476

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-09-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Buffer overflow in OpenSAML before 1.1.3 as used in Internet2 Shibboleth Service Provider software 1.3.x before 1.3.4, and XMLTooling before 1.2.2 as used in Internet2 Shibboleth Service Provider software 2.x before 2.2.1, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service and possibly execute arbitrary code via a malformed encoded URL.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Buffer overflow vulnerability in OpenSAML and XMLTooling libraries used by Internet2 Shibboleth Service Provider. The flaw is triggered when processing malformed encoded URLs, allowing remote attackers to cause denial of service and potentially execute arbitrary code.

MitigationUpgrade Shibboleth SP to version 1.3.4 or later (for 1.3.x branch) or 2.2.1 or later (for 2.x branch), which include patched OpenSAML 1.1.3+ and XMLTooling 1.2.2+ versions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Shibboleth SpApplication
Affected:= 1.3.1= 1.3.2= 1.3.3= 1.3f= 2.0= 2.1= 2.2
OpensamlApplication
Affected:= 1.1= 1.1.1
XmltoolingApplication
Affected:= 1.0.1= 1.1.0= 1.1.1= 1.2.0= 1.2.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Shibboleth SP installation
    Locate the Shibboleth SP installation directory and identify the shibd daemon or service configuration files. Common locations include /etc/shibboleth/ on Unix systems or the installation root directory.
    Affected if The system has Internet2 Shibboleth SP version 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3f, 2.0, 2.1, or 2.2 installed and running as a service.
  2. Check Shibboleth SP version
    Run the shibd version command, check the shibboleth.xml configuration file header, or query the installed package version using the system package manager (rpm -q shibboleth or dpkg -l shibboleth).
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3f, 2.0, 2.1, or 2.2.
  3. Check OpenSAML library version
    Inspect the OpenSAML library files included with the Shibboleth SP installation, typically named libopensaml.so or opensaml.jar, and check the embedded version metadata.
    Affected if The OpenSAML library version is exactly 1.1 or 1.1.1.
  4. Check XMLTooling library version
    Inspect the XMLTooling library files included with the Shibboleth SP installation, typically named libxmltooling.so or xmltooling.jar, and check the embedded version metadata.
    Affected if The XMLTooling library version is exactly 1.0.1, 1.1.0, 1.1.1, 1.2.0, or 1.2.1.
  5. Verify URL processing is enabled
    Confirm that the Shibboleth SP is configured to process incoming SAML messages and metadata via HTTP/HTTPS, which requires the shibd daemon to be active and the handler for XML consumption to be enabled in shibboleth.xml.
    Affected if The Shibboleth SP daemon is running and configured to accept and process SAML assertions over HTTP, making it vulnerable to malformed encoded URL input.

A system is affected if it runs any Shibboleth SP version 1.3.1 through 2.2 (or bundles OpenSAML 1.1/1.1.1 or XMLTooling 1.0.1 through 1.2.1) and has the SP actively processing incoming SAML requests.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Shibboleth SP to version 1.3.4 or later (for 1.3.x branch) or 2.2.1 or later (for 2.x branch), which include patched OpenSAML 1.1.3+ and XMLTooling 1.2.2+ versions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Shibboleth SP 1.3.4+ for 1.3.x line; Shibboleth SP 2.2.1+ for 2.x line; OpenSAML 1.1.3+; XMLTooling 1.2.2+

  1. Identify the currently installed version of Shibboleth Service Provider (SP) by checking the version string or consulting system documentation
  2. For Shibboleth SP 1.3.x users: upgrade to Shibboleth SP version 1.3.4 or later, which includes the fixed OpenSAML 1.1.3
  3. For Shibboleth SP 2.x users: upgrade to Shibboleth SP version 2.2.1 or later, which includes the fixed XMLTooling 1.2.2
  4. Alternatively, if using OpenSAML directly, upgrade to version 1.1.3 or later
  5. Alternatively, if using XMLTooling directly, upgrade to version 1.2.2 or later
  6. After upgrading, restart the Shibboleth SP service and verify the new version is installed
Caveat Minor - this is a security fix; verify compatibility with your SAML IdP and application stack after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Shibboleth Sp Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-3476 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-3476 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data