CVE-2015-0851
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 · uneditedXMLTooling-C before 1.5.5, as used in OpenSAML-C and Shibboleth Service Provider (SP), does not properly handle integer conversion exceptions, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via schema-invalid XML data.
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 confidenceXMLTooling-C before 1.5.5 fails to properly handle integer conversion exceptions when processing XML data. When schema-invalid XML containing integer values that cannot be converted is processed, an unhandled exception occurs, causing the application (OpenSAML-C or Shibboleth SP) to crash, resulting in 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<= 1.5.4CVSS 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 installed Xmltooling-C versionCheck the installed package version using your system's package manager (dpkg -l libxmltooling*, rpm -q xmltooling, or similar) or examine the library file version (ldd on the application binary, or strings grep on libxmltooling.so)Affected if Version is 1.5.4 or lower
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Confirm application uses OpenSAML-C or Shibboleth SPIdentify if your application links against libxmltooling and uses OpenSAML-C or is a Shibboleth Service Provider (check process with ldd or ps aux for shibd/spd processes)Affected if Application uses OpenSAML-C library or runs Shibboleth SP components linked to vulnerable Xmltooling
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Check if XML input processing is activeReview application configuration or logs to determine if the application processes incoming or stored XML data (such as SAML assertions, metadata, or configuration files)Affected if Application processes XML data from untrusted sources
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Verify XML validation is not enforcedExamine application or XML parser configuration for XML schema validation settings (check shibboleth2.xml, openSAML config, or custom XML parser settings for xsi:schemaLocation or validation flags)Affected if XML schema validation is disabled or bypassed, allowing schema-invalid integer values to reach the parser
You are affected if your system runs Xmltooling-C version 1.5.4 or earlier as part of OpenSAML-C or Shibboleth SP, and processes XML data without strict schema validation enforcement.
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 XMLTooling-C to version 1.5.5 or later, which includes proper exception handling for integer conversion errors. Validate all XML input against expected schemas before processing to reject malformed data early.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-0851 — 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-2015-0851 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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