Apple iOS/iPadOS up to 14.8 libexpat denial of service

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as problematic has been discovered in Apple iOS and iPadOS up to 14.8. This affects an unknown function of the component libexpat. The manipulation results in denial of service. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2013-0340. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Apple iOS and iPadOS up to 14.8 (Smartphone Operating System). Affected is an unknown functionality of the component libexpat. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a denial of service vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-404. The product does not release or incorrectly releases a resource before it is made available for re-use. This is going to have an impact on availability. CVE summarizes:

expat before version 2.4.0 does not properly handle entities expansion unless an application developer uses the XML_SetEntityDeclHandler function, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource consumption), send HTTP requests to intranet servers, or read arbitrary files via a crafted XML document, aka an XML External Entity (XXE) issue. NOTE: it could be argued that because expat already provides the ability to disable external entity expansion, the responsibility for resolving this issue lies with application developers; according to this argument, this entry should be REJECTed, and each affected application would need its own CVE.

The weakness was shared 09/20/2021 as HT212814 as confirmed advisory (Website). The advisory is available at support.apple.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2013-0340. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not available. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 11/29/2025). It is expected to see the exploit prices for this product increasing in the near future.This vulnerability is assigned to T1499 by the MITRE ATT&CK project. The advisory points out:

A remote attacker may be able to cause a denial of service

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 276721 (RHEL 9 : expat (RHSA-2025:22035)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 15.0 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability. The advisory contains the following remark:

This issue was addressed by updating expat to version 2.4.1.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (276721). If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Smartphone Operating System

Vendor

• Apple

Name

• iOS
• iPadOS

Version

• 14.0
• 14.1
• 14.2
• 14.3
• 14.4
• 14.5
• 14.6
• 14.7
• 14.8

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.apple.com/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Entryinfo

If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.

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