CVE-2020-15303
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 · uneditedInfoblox NIOS before 8.5.2 allows entity expansion during an XML upload operation, a related 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 confidenceInfoblox NIOS before version 8.5.2 is vulnerable to XML entity expansion attacks during file upload operations. This allows an attacker to inject malicious XML containing external entity references, potentially leading to data exfiltration (similar to XXE) or denial of service through recursive entity expansion (Billion Laughs attack).
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>= 8.4.0, <= 8.4.8= 8.5.0= 8.5.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 the Infoblox NIOS installed versionLog into the NIOS admin UI and locate the version information typically displayed in the footer of each page, or use the CLI command 'show version' to display the firmware versionAffected if The displayed version falls within 8.4.0 through 8.4.8, or equals exactly 8.5.0 or 8.5.1
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Confirm XML file upload functionality is accessibleCheck if the file upload feature that processes XML files is enabled or accessible in your NIOS environment. This may appear as an import or upload option in the admin interface for configuration backup/restore or similar featuresAffected if XML file upload or import functionality is available and the NIOS version is in the vulnerable range listed above
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Verify the XML parser configuration (if accessible)If you have administrative access to review system configuration, check whether the XML parser has external entity processing disabled or restricted. This is typically a parser-level security settingAffected if External entity references are not explicitly restricted in the XML parser configuration and the NIOS version is vulnerable
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Review recent XML file upload activityExamine NIOS audit logs or system logs for any recent file upload operations that involved XML content, looking for unusual patterns or potential exploitation attemptsAffected if XML file uploads have been performed and the NIOS version is in the affected range
You are affected if your Infoblox NIOS version is 8.4.0 through 8.4.8, 8.5.0, or 8.5.1 and XML file upload functionality is enabled or has been used.
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 Infoblox NIOS to version 8.5.2 or later, which includes proper XML parser configuration to prevent entity expansion. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling XML file upload functionality or implementing input validation at upstream network boundaries.
- 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-2020-15303 — 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-2020-15303 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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