CVE-2016-3033
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 · uneditedIBM AppScan Source 8.7 through 9.0.3.3 allows remote authenticated users to read arbitrary files or cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via an XML document containing an external entity declaration in conjunction with an entity reference, related to an XML External Entity (XXE) issue.
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 confidenceIBM AppScan Source versions 8.7 through 9.0.3.3 contains an XML External Entity (XXE) injection vulnerability in its XML parser. An authenticated remote attacker can craft malicious XML documents containing external entity declarations combined with entity references to cause the parser to fetch arbitrary local files via file:// protocol or trigger recursive entity expansion leading to excessive memory consumption and 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= 8.7= 8.7.0.1= 8.8= 9.0= 9.0.0.1= 9.0.1= 9.0.2= 9.0.3= 9.0.3.1= 9.0.3.2= 9.0.3.3CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Identify IBM AppScan Source versionLocate the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\IBM\AppScan Source or /opt/ibm/appscan/source). Check for a version file, or run the application and navigate to Help > About. On Linux, check the version using the appscan-source CLI if available: ./appscan.sh version or check the installation manifest files.Affected if The installed version matches any of these: 8.7, 8.7.0.1, 8.8, 9.0, 9.0.0.1, 9.0.1, 9.0.2, 9.0.3, 9.0.3.1, 9.0.3.2, or 9.0.3.3
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Verify XML scan or import functionality is accessibleCheck if the IBM AppScan Source application has any XML-related features enabled such as source code scanning that processes XML files, or if the web interface/API accepts XML input for scan configuration or results import. Review user access to these features.Affected if Authenticated users can submit or upload XML documents to the application for processing
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Confirm authentication is required and in useReview the authentication configuration for IBM AppScan Source. Verify that user accounts exist and that the application enforces login for access to scanning and configuration features.Affected if The application is accessible to authenticated users (the vulnerability requires authentication)
Your environment is affected if IBM AppScan Source version 8.7 through 9.0.3.3 is installed and authenticated users can submit XML documents for processing.
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 dataUsers should upgrade to IBM AppScan Source version 9.0.3.4 or later which contains the patch. Until upgrade is possible, consider restricting XML input from untrusted sources or implementing additional network-level controls.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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-2016-3033 — 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-2016-3033 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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