FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2016-3720
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 · uneditedXML external entity (XXE) vulnerability in XmlMapper in the Data format extension for Jackson (aka jackson-dataformat-xml) allows attackers to have unspecified impact via unknown vectors.
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 · moderate confidenceXXE vulnerability in XmlMapper of jackson-dataformat-xml allows parsing of malicious XML containing external entity references. This can enable data exfiltration, SSRF attacks, or denial of service by leveraging uncontrolled XML 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
FedoraOperating system
= 24<= 2.7.3CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 if jackson-dataformat-xml is in useSearch project dependencies (Maven pom.xml, Gradle build.gradle, or JAR manifest) for jackson-dataformat-xmlAffected if The library is present as a direct or transitive dependency
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Determine the installed version of jackson-dataformat-xmlCheck the version in your dependency management (for Maven: mvn dependency:tree | grep jackson-dataformat-xml; for Gradle: gradle dependencies | grep jackson-dataformat-xml)Affected if Version is 2.7.3 or lower, or exact version cannot be determined but the library is present on Fedora 24
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Confirm XmlMapper is being used in your codeSearch codebase for imports and instantiation of com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.xml.XmlMapper or com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.xml.JacksonXmlModuleAffected if XmlMapper is instantiated or used to parse XML input from untrusted sources
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Check if XML parser has external entity processing disabledInspect the XmlMapper or underlying XMLStreamReader configuration for settings like XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD, ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA, or feature 'javax.xml.XMLConstants/ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD' being set to empty or falseAffected if External entity processing is not explicitly disabled (value is null, not set, or allows external references)
Your environment is affected if jackson-dataformat-xml version 2.7.3 or lower is in use, XmlMapper parses untrusted XML, and external entity processing remains enabled in the XML parser configuration.
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 external entity processing in the XML parser configuration (e.g., set XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD and ACCESS_EXTERNAL_SCHEMA to empty strings, or upgrade to patched version jackson-dataformat-xml 2.6+).
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-3720 — 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-2016-3720 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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