InstallbuilderApplication · VMware
CVE-2020-3946
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 · uneditedInstallBuilder AutoUpdate tool and regular installers enabling <checkForUpdates> built with versions earlier than 19.11 are vulnerable to Billion laughs attack (denial-of-service).
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 confidenceInstallBuilder's AutoUpdate tool and installers with <checkForUpdates> enabled, when built with versions prior to 19.11, are vulnerable to the Billion Laughs attack. This XML-based denial-of-service vulnerability exploits recursive entity expansion to exhaust server resources.
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
InstallbuilderApplication
< 19.11.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 InstallBuilder version usedCheck the version of InstallBuilder by launching the tool and viewing Help > About, or by checking the installer executable metadata. Compare against the affected range: versions prior to 19.11.0.Affected if The installed or builder version is below 19.11.0
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Locate built installers with AutoUpdate enabledSearch your project files for the <checkForUpdates> XML tag in your InstallBuilder project (.installbuilderproject) files. This configuration appears in the <autoupdate> or <checkForUpdates> element.Affected if Any .installbuilderproject file contains <checkForUpdates>true</checkForUpdates> or similar enabled configuration, AND the project was built with a version below 19.11.0
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Inspect the built installer executableExtract and examine the installer for the autoupdate configuration file (often in the installer resources). Use the tool's built-in analysis to view the embedded XML configuration.Affected if The built installer binary contains enabled AutoUpdate settings from a pre-19.11 build process
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Check for AutoUpdate web server activityReview server logs for incoming XML requests from InstallBuilder AutoUpdate clients. The vulnerability triggers on the server side during XML parsing of the update check response.Affected if Your environment serves update XML responses to InstallBuilder-based clients running versions below 19.11.0
You are affected if you use InstallBuilder versions prior to 19.11.0 to build installers with the AutoUpdate or checkForUpdates feature enabled.
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 data19.11.0
Upgrade InstallBuilder to version 19.11 or later to incorporate XML entity expansion protection. Rebuild any existing installers with the updated version.
Fix this in Installbuilder
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3946 — 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-2020-3946 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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