CVE-2013-3860
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 · uneditedMicrosoft .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.5, 3.5 SP1, 3.5.1, 4, and 4.5 does not properly parse a DTD during XML digital-signature validation, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash or hang) via a crafted signed XML document, aka "Entity Expansion Vulnerability."
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 a denial-of-service vulnerability in Microsoft .NET Framework's XML digital-signature validation. The framework improperly parses DTD (Document Type Definition) entities during XML signature verification, allowing attackers to cause application crashes or hangs via crafted signed XML documents containing malicious entity expansion.
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= 2.0= 3.5= 3.5.1= 4.0= 4.5CVSS 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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Check installed .NET Framework versionOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\v2.0.50727 (and similarly for v3.0, v3.5, v3.5.1, v4.0, v4.5). Check the 'Version' value in each key to determine which versions are installed.Affected if The installed version matches 2.0, 3.5, 3.5.1, 4.0, or 4.5 exactly.
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Identify XML signature validation codeSearch application source code for usages of System.Security.Cryptography.Xml.SignedXml, System.Xml.XmlDigitalSignature, or XmlReader with XmlSignatureVerifier to locate XML signature validation logic.Affected if The application performs XML digital signature verification using .NET XML cryptographic classes.
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Inspect XmlReader DTD processing configurationExamine XmlReaderSettings used during signature validation. Check if DtdProcessing property is set to DtdProcessing.Parse or if it is not explicitly set (default allows DTD). Also check if the XmlResolver property is set to null or a non-restricted resolver.Affected if DtdProcessing is set to Parse or not explicitly restricted, allowing DTD entity expansion during XML signature verification.
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Review application configuration filesCheck app.config and web.config files for custom XmlReaderSettings or any configuration related to XML processing that may enable DTD processing.Affected if Configuration files contain settings that enable DTD processing or fail to restrict it for XML signature validation.
A system is affected if it runs any of .NET Framework versions 2.0, 3.5, 3.5.1, 4.0, or 4.5 AND performs XML digital signature validation with DTD processing enabled (the default).
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 dataApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2013-3860 (MS13-041) to all affected .NET Framework installations, or programmatically disable DTD processing in XmlReader settings when validating untrusted XML signatures.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3860 — 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-2013-3860 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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