Microsoft Office 2007/2010/2011/2013 XML Parser Nested Entities resource management

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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4.7$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Office 2007/2010/2011/2013. It has been classified as problematic. The affected element is an unknown function of the component XML Parser. Performing a manipulation as part of Nested Entities results in resource management. This vulnerability was named CVE-2014-2730. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Microsoft Office 2007/2010/2011/2013 (Office Suite Software). This affects an unknown code block of the component XML Parser. The manipulation as part of a Nested Entities leads to a resource management vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-399. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

The XML parser in Microsoft Office 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 and SP2, and 2013, and Office for Mac 2011, does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and persistent application hang) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, as demonstrated by a crafted text/plain e-mail message to Outlook, a similar issue to CVE-2003-1564.

The issue has been introduced in 01/30/2007. The weakness was presented 04/08/2014 by Lubomir Stroetmann with softScheck GmbH as confirmed posting (Bugtraq). It is possible to read the advisory at securityfocus.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2014-2730 since 04/05/2014. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available.

The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 2622 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $5k-$25k.

A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability. The posting contains the following remark:

softScheck reported the vulnerability to Microsoft. Microsoft confirmed the issue, however, it does not meet their definition of a security vulnerability. Microsoft promises to address the issue in a future version of Outlook. Effective protection against the vulnerability can be achieved by adding a rule blocking XML DTD Entities ("<!ENTITY", case-insensitive) to your spam filter. Creating an Outlook rule to permanently delete messages containing "<!ENTITY" also mitigates the attack.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (93948), SecurityTracker (ID 1030024†) and Vulnerability Center (SBV-43913†). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.7

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 4.7
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
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Exploitinginfo

Class: Resource management
CWE: CWE-399 / CWE-404
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Unproven

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: no mitigation known
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔍
0-Day Time: 🔍
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Timelineinfo

01/30/2007 🔍
02/26/2014 +2584 days 🔍
04/05/2014 +38 days 🔍
04/05/2014 +0 days 🔍
04/05/2014 +0 days 🔍
04/07/2014 +2 days 🔍
04/07/2014 +0 days 🔍
04/08/2014 +1 days 🔍
04/08/2014 +0 days 🔍
04/09/2014 +1 days 🔍
05/09/2026 +4413 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com

Advisory: securityfocus.com⛔
Researcher: Lubomir Stroetmann
Organization: softScheck GmbH
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2014-2730 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2014-2730
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-12843
X-Force: 93948 - Microsoft Office XML parser denial of service, Medium Risk
SecurityTracker: 1030024 - Microsoft Office XML Parser Entity Expansion Flaw Lets Remote Users Deny Service
Vulnerability Center: 43913 - Microsoft Office 2007 SP3, 2010 SP1 SP2, 2013 Remote DoS Vulnerability via Crafted XML Document, Medium

Entryinfo

Created: 04/09/2014 13:04
Updated: 05/09/2026 20:23
Changes: 04/09/2014 13:04 (50), 05/24/2017 11:28 (23), 05/09/2026 20:23 (17)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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