List of bugs that are fixed in Microsoft XML 3.0 Service Pack 5 (890077)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft XML Parser 3.0 SP5

Contents

INTRODUCTION

This article lists the significant changes in Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 3.0 Service Pack 5 (SP5). MSXML 3.0 SP5 is included with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2. You can also download MSXML 3.0 SP5 from the Microsoft Download Center:

DownloadDownload the MSXML 3.0 SP5 package now.

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

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MORE INFORMATION
Problems that are fixed in MXSML 3.0 SP5
The following lists the significant general problems that are fixed in MSXML
		  3.0 SP5.  
		  
  •  Fixes for failures that may occur during low memory
				conditions.
  •  Fixes for memory leak issues. 
  •  Performance enhancements that are related to the internal treatment of spin
				locks and critical section caching. 
  • Fixes for problems that occur in high-stress
				situations.
  •  Fixes for problems that occur while an MSXML
				application is running under Application Verifier.
  •  Fixes for security issues. These issues include enhancing security for XMLHTTP host header
				spoofing and denial-of-service attacks for applications that except XML
				files that may contain many attributes.
The following lists specific problems that are fixed in
		  this service pack: 
  • Applications may stop responding when a document is saved to
				itself. For example, this problem occurs when you use the save method to save a file to itself as shown in the following code:
    xmldoc.save(xmldoc)
  •  A problem that occurs when a node from one Document Object Model (DOM) document  is copied to another DOM document. For example, assume that you have node <NX> in a read-only DOM document and node <NY>
				in a read/write DOM document. This problem occurs if you clone the <NX> node, and you try to append the <NX> node to the <NY> node. This situation is shown in the following code: 
    NY.appendChild( NX.cloneNode(true))

  •  Cached XML files generate unnecessary HTTP GET requests
				for embedded XML/Extensible Stylesheet Language for Transformation (XSLT) files. For example, if you load an .xml file that
				contains an .xsl file that refers to another .xml file, the referenced files
				are refreshed even though the .xml file was cached.
  • The  XMLHTTP object crashes when multiples of 4092 bytes of
				data are sent by using the send method.
  •  A memory leak and a security problem occur in XMLHTTP code if
				credentials are required when the send method is called.
  •  Included .xsl files are not downloaded. This problem occurs because MSXML 3.0 performs HTTP POST requests instead of GET requests for the
				included files.
  •  Redirects to relative pages return an "Unspecified Error" error message when the ServerXMLHTTP send
				method is called. 
  • XMLHTTP has problems when it translates responses that include
				multi-byte characters.
  •  The AllowDocumentFunction property returns the incorrect value. This property was added in
				MSXML 3.0 SP4. 
  •  The EBay Turbo Lister application crashes because of an Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL)
				problem in MSXML 3.0 SP4. The problem occurs when many nodes are transformed under stress. 
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New features that are included in MSXML 3.0 SP5
MSXML 3.0 SP5 includes some new properties, a new
		  flag, and a new interface to help prevent DOS
		  attacks. You need the updated C++ header file from the updated MSXML SDK
		  to use the new flag and the new interface.
A Simple API for XML (SAX) parser property that is named "prohibit-dtd" is added
Property values for the prohibit-dtd property: 
		  
  • false (VARIANT_FALSE) = (default) Allow a document type definition (DTD) to be included in
				an XML document
  • true (VARIANT_TRUE) = Prohibit a DTD from being included in an XML
				document
 This feature lets users prohibit DTD use. Prohibiting DTD use may help 
		  prevent DOS attacks in situations where many entity resolutions
		  may cause applications to stop responding. When a DTD is used, this feature can prohibit DTDs. It can also prevent the send error "Invalid at the top level of the document"
		  (XML_E_INVALIDATROOTLEVEL, 0xE52D).
A DOM property that is named "ProhibitDTD" is added
The ProhibitDTD property does not allow DTDs to be included in
		  XML documents. By default, this property is set to FALSE. When the property is set to FALSE,
		  DTDs are allowed. When the property is set to TRUE, DTDs are not allowed. This property is not
		  copied when the DOM is cloned. 

This property let users prohibit DTD use. Preventing DTD use may help prevent DOS attacks in situations where many entity resolutions may cause applications to stop responding. Setting this
		  property prohibits DTD use. When a DTD is used, the user receives the  error "Invalid at the top level of the
		  document" (XML_E_INVALIDATROOTLEVEL, 0xE52D). 

Example
xmldoc.setProperty("ProhibitDTD", True); // Jscript
xmldoc.setProperty "ProhibitDTD", True   'VBScript
Note The ProhibitDTD property works even if data is loaded from another DOM
		  document. 

Example
dom1.load("file with DTD");
dom2.setProperty("ProhibitDTD", true);
dom2.Load(dom1);   <--- This will Error
The IXMLParser::SetFlags method allows a new flag that is named XMLFLAG_PROHIBIT_DTD
This flag lets users prohibit DTD use. Prohibiting DTD use may help prevent DOS attack in situations where many entity resolutions may cause applications to stop responding. Setting this flag with the IXMLParser::SetFlags() method 
		  prohibits DTD use. When a DTD is used, the user receives the error  "Invalid at the top level of the document"
		  (XML_E_INVALIDATROOTLEVEL, 0xE52D). 

A new interface that is named IXMLParser3 is added
The IXMLParser3 interface is added to set the max-attributes-per-element property to limit the number of attributes for each element.
interface IXMLParser3 : IXMLParser2
{
    HRESULT SetProperty(
        [in] const WCHAR* pwcName,
        [in] VARIANT value);
 
    HRESULT GetProperty(
        [in] const WCHAR* pwcName,
        [out,retval] VARIANT* value);
};

New property name

"max-attributes-per-element" 

Default Value

-1 ( no limit ) 

Usage
pParser->SetProperty(L"max-attributes-per-element" , value )
                                 /*value is VARIANT containing a LONG*/
Note This count does not include the default attributes that are passed through
		  DTDs or schemas.

For more information about this interface, see the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/xmlsdk/html/IXMLParser3_Interface.asp
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Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/22/2004
Keywords:kbservicepack kbhowto kbXML kbinfo kbfix KB890077 kbAudDeveloper

                  

                

              		
            

          

          

            

              

                

                  
                    
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