diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/CHANGELOG.md b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/CHANGELOG.md
index 8426abd57b..63c244078f 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ CHANGELOG
 
  * added numerical type handling for config definitions
  * added convenience methods for optional configuration sections to ArrayNodeDefinition
+ * added a utils class for XML manipulations
 
 2.1.0
 -----
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/document_type.xml b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/document_type.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4c25228263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/document_type.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<!DOCTYPE scan [<!ENTITY test SYSTEM "php://filter/read=convert.base64-encode/resource={{ resource }}">]>
+<scan></scan>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid.xml b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a07af9fd85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<root>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid_schema.xml b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid_schema.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e2725a2c2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/invalid_schema.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<root2 xmlns="http://example.com/schema" />
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/schema.xsd b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/schema.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e56820f691
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/schema.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<xsd:schema xmlns="http://example.com/schema"
+    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
+    targetNamespace="http://example.com/schema"
+    elementFormDefault="qualified">
+
+  <xsd:element name="root" />
+</xsd:schema>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/valid.xml b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/valid.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a96bb38267
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Fixtures/Util/valid.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<root xmlns="http://example.com/schema">
+</root>
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Util/XmlUtilsTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Util/XmlUtilsTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ad0b19576
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Tests/Util/XmlUtilsTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,124 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Config\Tests\Loader;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Config\Util\XmlUtils;
+
+class XmlUtilsTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    public function testLoadFile()
+    {
+        $fixtures = __DIR__.'/../Fixtures/Util/';
+
+        try {
+            XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'invalid.xml');
+            $this->fail();
+        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
+            $this->assertContains('ERROR 77', $e->getMessage());
+        }
+
+        try {
+            XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'document_type.xml');
+            $this->fail();
+        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
+            $this->assertContains('Document types are not allowed', $e->getMessage());
+        }
+
+        try {
+            XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'invalid_schema.xml', $fixtures.'schema.xsd');
+            $this->fail();
+        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
+            $this->assertContains('ERROR 1845', $e->getMessage());
+        }
+
+        try {
+            XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'invalid_schema.xml', 'invalid_callback_or_file');
+            $this->fail();
+        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
+            $this->assertContains('XSD file or callable', $e->getMessage());
+        }
+
+        $mock = $this->getMock(__NAMESPACE__.'\Validator');
+        $mock->expects($this->exactly(2))->method('validate')->will($this->onConsecutiveCalls(false, true));
+
+        try {
+            XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'valid.xml', array($mock, 'validate'));
+            $this->fail();
+        } catch (\InvalidArgumentException $e) {
+            $this->assertContains('is not valid', $e->getMessage());
+        }
+
+        $this->assertInstanceOf('DOMDocument', XmlUtils::loadFile($fixtures.'valid.xml', array($mock, 'validate')));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider getDataForConvertDomToArray
+     */
+    public function testConvertDomToArray($expected, $xml)
+    {
+        $dom = new \DOMDocument();
+        $dom->loadXML('<root>'.$xml.'</root>');
+
+        $this->assertSame($expected, XmlUtils::convertDomElementToArray($dom->documentElement));
+    }
+
+    public function getDataForConvertDomToArray()
+    {
+        return array(
+            array(null, ''),
+            array(array('foo' => null), '<foo />'),
+            array(array('foo' => 'bar'), '<foo>bar</foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('foo' => 'bar')), '<foo foo="bar"/>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('foo' => 'bar')), '<foo><foo>bar</foo></foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('foo' => 'bar', 'value' => 'text')), '<foo foo="bar">text</foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('attr' => 'bar', 'foo' => 'text')), '<foo attr="bar"><foo>text</foo></foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('bar', 'text')), '<foo>bar</foo><foo>text</foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => array(array('foo' => 'bar'), array('foo' => 'text'))), '<foo foo="bar"/><foo foo="text" />'),
+            array(array('foo' => array('foo' => array('bar', 'text'))), '<foo foo="bar"><foo>text</foo></foo>'),
+            array(array('foo' => 'bar'), '<foo><!-- Comment -->bar</foo>'),
+        );
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider getDataForPhpize
+     */
+    public function testPhpize($expected, $value)
+    {
+        $this->assertSame($expected, XmlUtils::phpize($value));
+    }
+
+    public function getDataForPhpize()
+    {
+        return array(
+            array(null, 'null'),
+            array(true, 'true'),
+            array(false, 'false'),
+            array(null, 'Null'),
+            array(true, 'True'),
+            array(false, 'False'),
+            array(0, '0'),
+            array(1, '1'),
+            array(0777, '0777'),
+            array(255, '0xFF'),
+            array(100.0, '1e2'),
+            array(-120.0, '-1.2E2'),
+            array(-10100.1, '-10100.1'),
+            array(-10100.1, '-10,100.1'),
+            array('foo', 'foo'),
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+interface Validator
+{
+    public function validate();
+}
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Util/XmlUtils.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Util/XmlUtils.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8ab8225df5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Config/Util/XmlUtils.php
@@ -0,0 +1,215 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Config\Util;
+
+/**
+ * XMLUtils is a bunch of utility methods to XML operations.
+ *
+ * This class contains static methods only and is not meant to be instantiated.
+ *
+ * @author Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ * @author Martin Hasoň <martin.hason@gmail.com>
+ */
+class XmlUtils
+{
+    /**
+     * This class should not be instantiated
+     */
+    private function __construct()
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Loads an XML file.
+     *
+     * @param string $file                      An XML file path
+     * @param string|callable $schemaOrCallable An XSD schema file path or callable
+     *
+     * @return \DOMDocument
+     *
+     * @throws \InvalidArgumentException When loading of XML file returns error
+     */
+    public static function loadFile($file, $schemaOrCallable = null)
+    {
+        $internalErrors = libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+        $disableEntities = libxml_disable_entity_loader(true);
+        libxml_clear_errors();
+
+        $dom = new \DOMDocument();
+        $dom->validateOnParse = true;
+        if (!$dom->loadXML(file_get_contents($file), LIBXML_NONET | (defined('LIBXML_COMPACT') ? LIBXML_COMPACT : 0))) {
+            libxml_disable_entity_loader($disableEntities);
+
+            throw new \InvalidArgumentException(implode("\n", static::getXmlErrors($internalErrors)));
+        }
+
+        $dom->normalizeDocument();
+
+        libxml_use_internal_errors($internalErrors);
+        libxml_disable_entity_loader($disableEntities);
+
+        foreach ($dom->childNodes as $child) {
+            if ($child->nodeType === XML_DOCUMENT_TYPE_NODE) {
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Document types are not allowed.');
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (null !== $schemaOrCallable) {
+            $internalErrors = libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+            libxml_clear_errors();
+
+            $e = null;
+            if (is_callable($schemaOrCallable)) {
+                try {
+                    $valid = call_user_func($schemaOrCallable, $dom, $internalErrors);
+                } catch (\Exception $e) {
+                    $valid = false;
+                }
+            } elseif (!is_array($schemaOrCallable) && is_file((string) $schemaOrCallable)) {
+                $valid = @$dom->schemaValidate($schemaOrCallable);
+            } else {
+                libxml_use_internal_errors($internalErrors);
+
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException('The schemaOrCallable argument has to be a valid path to XSD file or callable.');
+            }
+
+            if (!$valid) {
+                $messages = static::getXmlErrors($internalErrors);
+                if (empty($messages)) {
+                    $messages = array(sprintf('The XML file "%s" is not valid.', $file));
+                }
+                throw new \InvalidArgumentException(implode("\n", $messages), 0, $e);
+            }
+
+            libxml_use_internal_errors($internalErrors);
+        }
+
+        return $dom;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Converts a \DomElement object to a PHP array.
+     *
+     * The following rules applies during the conversion:
+     *
+     *  * Each tag is converted to a key value or an array
+     *    if there is more than one "value"
+     *
+     *  * The content of a tag is set under a "value" key (<foo>bar</foo>)
+     *    if the tag also has some nested tags
+     *
+     *  * The attributes are converted to keys (<foo foo="bar"/>)
+     *
+     *  * The nested-tags are converted to keys (<foo><foo>bar</foo></foo>)
+     *
+     * @param \DomElement $element A \DomElement instance
+     *
+     * @return array A PHP array
+     */
+    public static function convertDomElementToArray(\DomElement $element)
+    {
+        $empty = true;
+        $config = array();
+        foreach ($element->attributes as $name => $node) {
+            $config[$name] = static::phpize($node->value);
+            $empty = false;
+        }
+
+        $nodeValue = false;
+        foreach ($element->childNodes as $node) {
+            if ($node instanceof \DOMText) {
+                if (trim($node->nodeValue)) {
+                    $nodeValue = trim($node->nodeValue);
+                    $empty = false;
+                }
+            } elseif (!$node instanceof \DOMComment) {
+                $value = static::convertDomElementToArray($node);
+
+                $key = $node->localName;
+                if (isset($config[$key])) {
+                    if (!is_array($config[$key]) || !is_int(key($config[$key]))) {
+                        $config[$key] = array($config[$key]);
+                    }
+                    $config[$key][] = $value;
+                } else {
+                    $config[$key] = $value;
+                }
+
+                $empty = false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (false !== $nodeValue) {
+            $value = static::phpize($nodeValue);
+            if (count($config)) {
+                $config['value'] = $value;
+            } else {
+                $config = $value;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return !$empty ? $config : null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Converts an xml value to a php type.
+     *
+     * @param mixed $value
+     *
+     * @return mixed
+     */
+    public static function phpize($value)
+    {
+        $value = (string) $value;
+        $lowercaseValue = strtolower($value);
+
+        switch (true) {
+            case 'null' === $lowercaseValue:
+                return null;
+            case ctype_digit($value):
+                $raw = $value;
+                $cast = intval($value);
+
+                return '0' == $value[0] ? octdec($value) : (((string) $raw == (string) $cast) ? $cast : $raw);
+            case 'true' === $lowercaseValue:
+                return true;
+            case 'false' === $lowercaseValue:
+                return false;
+            case is_numeric($value):
+                return '0x' == $value[0].$value[1] ? hexdec($value) : floatval($value);
+            case preg_match('/^(-|\+)?[0-9,]+(\.[0-9]+)?$/', $value):
+                return floatval(str_replace(',', '', $value));
+            default:
+                return $value;
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected static function getXmlErrors($internalErrors)
+    {
+        $errors = array();
+        foreach (libxml_get_errors() as $error) {
+            $errors[] = sprintf('[%s %s] %s (in %s - line %d, column %d)',
+                LIBXML_ERR_WARNING == $error->level ? 'WARNING' : 'ERROR',
+                $error->code,
+                trim($error->message),
+                $error->file ? $error->file : 'n/a',
+                $error->line,
+                $error->column
+            );
+        }
+
+        libxml_clear_errors();
+        libxml_use_internal_errors($internalErrors);
+
+        return $errors;
+    }
+}