Jabber Extensible Communications PlatformApplication · Cisco
CVE-2011-3287
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 · uneditedCisco Jabber Extensible Communications Platform (aka Jabber XCP) 2.x through 5.4.x before 5.4.0.27581 and 5.8.x before 5.8.1.27561 does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption, and process crash) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, aka Bug ID CSCtq78106, a similar issue to CVE-2003-1564.
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 confidenceCisco Jabber XCP fails to properly detect recursion during XML entity expansion, allowing remote attackers to send crafted XML documents with deeply nested entity references. This causes excessive memory and CPU consumption, leading to denial of service and process crashes (similar to the Billion Laughs attack).
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
Jabber Extensible Communications PlatformApplication
<= 5.8<= 5.4= 5.0= 5.1= 5.2CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cisco Jabber XCP installationLocate the Cisco Jabber XCP installation directory and check for version information files (such as version.txt, about dialog, or executable version properties)Affected if The installed version is 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.4 any version up to and including 5.4, or any version up to and including 5.8 (versions prior to 5.4.0.27581 or 5.8.1.27561)
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Determine Jabber client versionFor Cisco Jabber client installations, check the application version through Help > About or the executable properties (right-click on jabber.exe, select Properties, view Version tab)Affected if The client version falls within the affected ranges listed above
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Verify XML parser entity expansion limitsExamine any configurable XML parser settings or configuration files associated with the Jabber installation for limits on entity expansion depth (such as XXE protection settings or XML security policies)Affected if No entity expansion depth limits are configured or limits are set to very high values allowing deeply nested entities
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Check for external entity processing configurationReview network edge devices, proxies, or application-level XML processing configurations for settings that control external entity processingAffected if External entity processing is enabled and not restricted
You are affected if Cisco Jabber XCP version is 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, any version 5.4.x up to 5.4.0.27580, or any version 5.5.x-5.8.x up to 5.8.1.27560, and XML parser entity expansion limits are not configured.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Cisco Jabber XCP version 5.4.0.27581, 5.8.1.27561, or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider XML parser configuration to limit entity expansion depth and disable external entity processing at the network edge.
Fix this in Jabber Extensible Communications Platform
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3287 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-3287 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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