Unified PresenceApplication · Cisco
CVE-2011-3288
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 Unified Presence before 8.5(4) 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 IDs CSCtq89842 and CSCtq88547, 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 confidenceThis is an XML Entity Expansion vulnerability in Cisco Unified Presence server versions before 8.5(4). The XML parser does not properly detect or limit recursion during entity expansion, allowing attackers to send crafted XML documents with deeply nested entity references that consume excessive memory and CPU, causing denial of service.
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
Unified PresenceApplication
< 8.5\(4\)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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Confirm Cisco Unified Presence is installedLocate the Cisco Unified Presence server installation and identify the product name. Common paths include /opt/cup/ or check system services for 'Cisco Unified Presence' or 'cup' processes.Affected if The product Cisco Unified Presence is found running in the environment
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Check the installed versionAccess the Cisco Unified Presence admin interface or use command line: 'utils cmd file get install' or check the version file in the installation directory. Compare against 8.5(4).Affected if The installed version is lower than 8.5(4)
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Verify XML parser interface accessibilityCheck network listening ports and firewall rules. The XML parser typically uses port 8080 or 8443 for web services. Use 'netstat -an | grep -E "(8080|8443)"' or review firewall configuration.Affected if The XML parser ports are accessible from untrusted networks
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Inspect XML validation configurationReview perimeter device configurations (load balancers, web application firewalls, XML gateways) for XML validation rules. Check if XXE/Entity Expansion detection is enabled.Affected if XML validation is not configured or disabled at perimeter devices
You are affected if Cisco Unified Presence version is below 8.5(4) AND the XML parser interface is network-accessible without XML validation protection.
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 data8.5
Upgrade Cisco Unified Presence to version 8.5(4) or later. As a compensating control, restrict network access to the XML parser interface and implement XML validation at perimeter devices.
Fix this in Unified Presence
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-3288 — 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-2011-3288 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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