Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2023-36661
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 · uneditedShibboleth XMLTooling before 3.2.4, as used in OpenSAML and Shibboleth Service Provider, allows SSRF via a crafted KeyInfo element. (This is fixed in, for example, Shibboleth Service Provider 3.4.1.3 on Windows.)
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 confidenceShibboleth XMLTooling versions before 3.2.4 contain a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in how the software processes crafted KeyInfo elements within XML signatures. An attacker can exploit this by providing a malicious KeyInfo element to cause the affected system to make unintended HTTP requests to attacker-controlled or internal 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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 11.0= 12.0< 3.2.4CVSS 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 installed XMLTooling version on DebianRun 'dpkg -l | grep xmltooling' or 'dpkg -l libxmltooling*' to list installed Shibboleth XMLTooling packages and their versionsAffected if The displayed version is lower than 3.2.4 or the package is not found (which may indicate an unpatched system)
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Check XMLTooling version on Linux systems via library fileRun 'rpm -qa | grep xmltooling' (RHEL/CentOS) or check the library directly with 'find /usr -name "*xmltooling*" -type f 2>/dev/null' and inspect file version infoAffected if The installed library version is below 3.2.4
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Identify services using XMLTooling for XML signature validationReview running processes and configuration files for services that use OpenSAML or Shibboleth components (commonly shibd, apache mod_shib), check /etc/shibboleth/ configuration directoryAffected if Shibboleth Service Provider or OpenSAML-based services are running and processing XML signatures with KeyInfo elements
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Determine if XML signature processing with KeyInfo is in useExamine application logs and configuration for XML signature validation scenarios, check if applications accept or process SAML assertions or other signed XML documents from external sourcesAffected if The system processes XML signatures containing KeyInfo elements from untrusted sources
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Inventory all systems with Shibboleth componentsQuery configuration management databases, deployment records, or scan for 'xmltooling' libraries across the infrastructure using 'find / -name "*xmltooling*" 2>/dev/null'Affected if Additional systems are found running XMLTooling versions below 3.2.4 that have not been assessed
A system is affected if it runs any version of Shibboleth XMLTooling or Xmltooling library prior to 3.2.4 and processes XML signatures containing KeyInfo elements from potentially untrusted sources.
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.
dbcve · scoped3.2.4
Upgrade Shibboleth XMLTooling to version 3.2.4 or later (or Shibboleth Service Provider to 3.4.1.3+). Conduct inventory of all systems using OpenSAML or Shibboleth components to ensure comprehensive patching.
Xmltooling 3.2.4 or later / Shibboleth Service Provider 3.4.1.3
- 1. Identify the current version of Xmltooling installed on the system (e.g., dpkg -l | grep xmltooling or rpm -qa | grep xmltooling)
- 2. For Debian systems: Run 'apt-get update' followed by 'apt-get install libxmltooling3' to install the latest available version
- 3. For systems using Shibboleth Service Provider: Upgrade to version 3.4.1.3 or later which includes the fixed Xmltooling library
- 4. Verify the new version is installed: 'dpkg -l | grep xmltooling' or check the application's about/version information
- 5. Restart any services that use Xmltooling (such as shibd) to load the updated library: 'systemctl restart shibd' or 'service shibd restart'
- 6. Test that the Shibboleth Service Provider functionality remains operational after the update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-36661 — 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-2023-36661 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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