CVE-2014-6259
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 · uneditedZenoss Core through 5 Beta 3 does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, aka ZEN-15414, 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 confidenceZenoss Core through 5 Beta 3 contains an XML parser vulnerability where the application fails to detect or limit recursive entity expansion during XML document parsing. Attackers can exploit this by submitting crafted XML with deeply nested entity references (the 'billion laughs' attack pattern), causing exponential memory and CPU consumption that leads to 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<= 5.0.0= 2.4.0= 2.4.5= 2.5.0= 2.5.1= 2.5.2= 3.0.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.0.3= 3.1.0= 3.2.0CVSS 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
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
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 Zenoss Core versionRun the command to display the installed Zenoss version, such as 'zenoss --version' or check the package manager for the installed zenoss-core package versionAffected if The installed version matches any of the following: <= 5.0.0, = 2.4.0, = 2.4.5, = 2.5.0, = 2.5.1, = 2.5.2, = 3.0.0, = 3.0.1, = 3.0.2, = 3.0.3, = 3.1.0, = 3.2.0
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Locate XML parser configurationSearch for XML parser configuration files in the Zenoss installation directory, typically under the config or etc folder, or check the Zenoss web interface for XML-related settingsAffected if Entity expansion limits are not defined or are set to unlimited/zero in the parser configuration
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Check for entity expansion limitsInspect the XML parser configuration for settings related to entity expansion depth, such as 'maxEntityExpansion', 'entityExpandDepth', or similar parameters, and verify they are set to a finite valueAffected if No limits are configured or the limits are set to allow unbounded expansion (e.g., -1, 0, or not set)
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Identify XML processing usageReview Zenoss configuration or logs for any features that process XML documents, such as device imports, XML-based templates, or integrations that accept XML inputAffected if XML document processing is enabled or used without protective limits
You are affected if your installed Zenoss Core version is in the affected list AND XML document processing is active AND the XML parser has no configured limits on entity expansion depth.
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 dataDisable recursive entity expansion and impose limits on entity expansion depth in the XML parser configuration, or upgrade to a patched version of Zenoss Core that implements proper recursion detection.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-6259 — 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-2014-6259 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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