CVE-2012-5657
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 · uneditedThe (1) Zend_Feed_Rss and (2) Zend_Feed_Atom classes in Zend_Feed in Zend Framework 1.11.x before 1.11.15 and 1.12.x before 1.12.1 allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files, send HTTP requests to intranet servers, and possibly cause a denial of service (CPU and memory consumption) via an XML External Entity (XXE) attack.
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 confidenceThe Zend_Feed_Rss and Zend_Feed_Atom classes in Zend Framework 1.11.x before 1.11.15 and 1.12.x before 1.12.1 are vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection. The XML parser processes external entities defined in malicious feeds, allowing attackers to read local files, make HTTP requests to internal infrastructure, and cause resource exhaustion.
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= 1.11.0= 1.11.1= 1.11.2= 1.11.3= 1.11.4= 1.11.5= 1.11.6= 1.11.7= 1.11.8= 1.11.9= 1.11.10= 1.11.11CVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N
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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Determine installed Zend Framework versionLocate the version file in your Zend Framework installation. Common paths include VERSION.txt in the library/Zend directory, or check your composer.json dependencies. Run: php -r 'require "Zend/Version.php"; echo Zend_Version::VERSION;'Affected if The version is 1.11.0 through 1.11.14, or 1.12.0 (any 1.12.x before 1.12.1)
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Identify use of Zend_Feed_Rss or Zend_Feed_AtomSearch your codebase for imports or includes of Zend_Feed_Rss or Zend_Feed_Atom classes. Use: grep -r "Zend_Feed_Rss\|Zend_Feed_Atom" /path/to/application --include="*.php"Affected if Your application includes code that instantiates or uses Zend_Feed_Rss or Zend_Feed_Atom classes to parse RSS or Atom feeds
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Inspect XML parser configuration in feed handling codeExamine the Zend_Feed library files in your installation, specifically the parsing code for RSS and Atom feeds. Look for XML parser settings and check whether libxml_disable_entity_loader is called to disable external entity processing. Run: grep -r "libxml_disable_entity_loader\|XML_PARSE_NOENT\|XML_PARSE_DTDLOAD" /path/to/ZendFramework/library/Zend/Feed/Affected if The feed parsing code does not explicitly disable external entity loading (libxml_disable_entity_loader(false) is not called)
You are affected if your installed Zend Framework version is 1.11.0-1.11.14 or 1.12.0 AND your application uses Zend_Feed_Rss or Zend_Feed_Atom to parse untrusted feeds without external entity protection enabled.
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 Zend Framework to version 1.11.15 or 1.12.1 or later, which includes proper XML external entity disablement in the feed parsing code.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-5657 — 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-2012-5657 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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