MediumCVE-2009-2416

    XMLSoft libxml2: Use-After-Free (CVE-2009-2416)

    Published Sources: CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in libxml2 2.5.10, 2.6.16, 2.6.26, 2.6.27, and 2.6.32, and libxml 1.8.17, allow context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via crafted (1) Notation or (2) Enumeration attribute types in an XML file, as demonstrated by the Codenomicon XML fuzzing framework.

    Update Google Chrome to version 2.0.172.43, Apple Safari to version 4.0.4, Apple iPhone OS to version 4.0.

    Affected
    • Xmlsoft Libxml eq 1.8.17..1.8.17
    • XMLSoft libxml2 eq 2.5.10..2.5.10
    • XMLSoft libxml2 eq 2.6.16..2.6.16
    • XMLSoft libxml2 eq 2.6.26..2.6.26
    • XMLSoft libxml2 eq 2.6.27..2.6.27
    • XMLSoft libxml2 eq 2.6.32..2.6.32
    • Fedora eq 10..10
    • Fedora eq 11..11
    • Debian Linux eq 4.0..4.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 3.0..3.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 4.0..4.0
    • Redhat Enterprise Linux eq 5.0..5.0
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 6.06..6.06
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 8.04..8.04
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 8.10..8.10
    • Canonical Ubuntu Linux eq 9.04..9.04
    • Google Chrome lt *..2.0.172.43
    • Apple Safari lt *..4.0.4
    • Apple iPhone OS lt 2.0..4.0
    • Apple Mac OS X lt *..10.4.11
    • Apple Mac OS X lt 10.5.0..10.5.8
    • Apple Mac OS X lt 10.6.0..10.6.2
    • Apple Mac OS X Server lt *..10.4.11
    • Apple Mac OS X Server lt 10.5.0..10.5.8
    • Apple Mac OS X Server lt 10.6.0..10.6.2
    • OpenSUSE lte 10.3..11.1
    • Suse Linux Enterprise eq 10.0..10.0
    • Suse Linux Enterprise eq 11.0..11.0
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server eq 9..9
    • VMware vCenter Server eq 4.0..4.0
    • VMware vMA 5 patch 1 (5.0.0.1) eq 4.0..4.0
    • VMware ESX eq 3.0.3..3.0.3
    • VMware ESX eq 3.5..3.5
    • VMware ESX eq 4.0..4.0
    • VMware ESXi eq 3.5..3.5
    • VMware ESXi eq 4.0..4.0
    • Sun Openoffice.org lt 2.0.0..2.4.3
    • Sun Openoffice.org lt 3.0.0..3.1.1
    Fixed in
    • Google Chrome 2.0.172.43
    • Apple Safari 4.0.4
    • Apple iPhone OS 4.0
    • Apple Mac OS X 10.4.11
    • Apple Mac OS X 10.5.8
    • Apple Mac OS X 10.6.2
    • Apple Mac OS X Server 10.4.11
    • Apple Mac OS X Server 10.5.8
    • Apple Mac OS X Server 10.6.2
    • Sun Openoffice.org 2.4.3
    • Sun Openoffice.org 3.1.1

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    6.5

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    6.5

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CVE.org

    2.0 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 80.3

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Medium
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    84.03 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    6.5 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    6.5
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    2.0 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    80.3
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · not automatable · Technical impact: partial
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 6 February 2024
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-416

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Handle the vulnerability in regular vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in libxml2 2.5.10, 2.6.16, 2.6.26, 2.6.27, and 2.6.32, and libxml 1.8.17, allow context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via crafted (1) Notation or (2) Enumeration attribute types in an XML file, as demonstrated by the Codenomicon XML fuzzing framework.

    Source: NVD (NIST), cvelistv5

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    applesafari
    • < 4.0.4
    • 4.0.4
    googlechrome
    • < 2.0.172.43
    • 2.0.172.43
    sunopenoffice.org
    • 2.0.0 – < 2.4.3
    • 3.0.0 – < 3.1.1
    • 2.4.3
    • 3.1.1
    vmwarevcenter_server
    • 4.0
    • —
    vmwarevma
    • 4.0
    • —
    xmlsoftlibxml
    • 1.8.17
    • —
    xmlsoftlibxml2
    • 2.6.26
    • 2.6.27
    • 2.6.16
    • 2.6.32
    • 2.5.10
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebiandebian_linux4.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux3.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux4.0
    Linuxredhatenterprise_linux5.0
    Linuxsuselinux_enterprise10.0
    Linuxsuselinux_enterprise11.0
    Linuxsuselinux_enterprise_server9
    Linuxopensuseopensuse—
    Linuxcanonicalubuntu_linux6.06
    Linuxcanonicalubuntu_linux8.04
    Linuxcanonicalubuntu_linux8.10
    Linuxcanonicalubuntu_linux9.04
    macOSapplemac_os_x—
    macOSapplemac_os_x_server—
    Mobileappleiphone_os—
    Othervmwareesx3.0.3
    Othervmwareesx3.5
    Othervmwareesx4.0
    Othervmwareesxi3.5
    Othervmwareesxi4.0
    Otherfedoraprojectfedora10
    Otherfedoraprojectfedora11

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-416Use After Free

      Variant

      The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-416

    References & sources

    • ubuntu.comUSN-815-1Vendor advisory, x_refsource_UBUNTU, Third-party advisory
    • redhat.comFEDORA-2009-8491Vendor advisory, x_refsource_FEDORA, Mailing list
    • secunia.com36631Third-party advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Broken link
    • oval.cisecurity.orgoval:org.mitre.oval:def:9262Vulnerability database, signature, x_refsource_OVAL, Broken link
    • networkworld.comcolumnists/2009/080509-xml-flaw.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Broken link
    • bugzilla.redhat.comshow_bug.cgi?id=515205x_refsource_CONFIRM, Issue tracking, Patch
    • openoffice.orgsecurity/cves/CVE-2009-2414-2416.htmlx_refsource_CONFIRM, Third-party advisory
    • lists.apple.comAPPLE-SA-2009-11-11-1Vendor advisory, x_refsource_APPLE, Mailing list
    • vupen.comADV-2009-3217Vulnerability database, x_refsource_VUPEN, Broken link
    • secunia.com37471Third-party advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Broken link
    • support.apple.comkb/HT4225x_refsource_CONFIRM, Third-party advisory
    • vupen.comADV-2009-2420Vulnerability database, x_refsource_VUPEN, Broken link
    • redhat.comFEDORA-2009-8580Vendor advisory, x_refsource_FEDORA, Mailing list
    • vmware.comsecurity/advisories/VMSA-2009-0016.htmlx_refsource_CONFIRM, Third-party advisory
    • secunia.com36417Third-party advisory, x_refsource_SECUNIA, Broken link
    • cert.fien/reports/2009/vulnerability2009085.htmlx_refsource_MISC, Broken link
    • codenomicon.comlabs/xmlx_refsource_MISC, Broken link
    • lists.opensuse.orgSUSE-SR:2009:015Vendor advisory, x_refsource_SUSE, Mailing list
    • support.apple.comkb/HT3949x_refsource_CONFIRM, Third-party advisory
    • mail-archive.com[debian-bugs-dist] 20090810 Bug#540865: libxml2: CVE-2009-2414, CVE-2009-2416 pointer-user-after-free and stack overflow because of function recursionMailing list, x_refsource_MLIST, Patch
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