CVE-2016-3039
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 Traveler 8.x and 9.x before 9.0.1.12 allows remote authenticated users to read arbitrary files or cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via XML data 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 Traveler 8.x and 9.x before 9.0.1.12 contains an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability where authenticated users can submit XML containing external entity declarations to read arbitrary files from the server file system or cause denial of service through excessive memory consumption.
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= 8.5.3= 9.0= 9.0.1CVSS 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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Verify IBM Traveler installationCheck if IBM Traveler is installed on the system by looking for the IBM Traveler application directory or checking system services for Traveler-related processes.Affected if IBM Traveler is not found on the system - the CVE does not apply.
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Determine installed IBM Traveler versionLocate the IBM Traveler version information, typically found in the Traveler installation directory or via the Traveler administration console. Look for version metadata files or the server version display.Affected if The installed version cannot be determined - assume potentially affected.
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare your installed version to the affected versions: 8.5.3, 9.0, 9.0.1, or any version before 9.0.1.12. If your version is 9.0.1.12 or later, the vulnerability is fixed.Affected if Installed version is 8.5.3, 9.0, 9.0.1, or any version before 9.0.1.12.
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Check XML submission accessDetermine if authenticated users have the ability to submit XML data to the IBM Traveler server. This is typically a standard function for Traveler users interacting with the server.Affected if Authenticated users can submit XML to the server - combined with a vulnerable version, this enables the XXE attack.
You are affected if IBM Traveler is installed with version 8.5.3, 9.0, 9.0.1, or any version before 9.0.1.12, and authenticated users can submit XML to the server.
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 IBM Traveler to version 9.0.1.12 or later, which includes the fix to disable external entity processing in the XML parser.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3039 — 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-2016-3039 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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