Null pointer dereference in libxml2 (Alpine package)

Published: 2018-10-24

Risk	Low
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2018-14404
CWE-ID	CWE-476
Exploitation vector	Network
Public exploit	Public exploit code for vulnerability #1 is available.
Vulnerable software Subscribe	libxml2 (Alpine package) Operating systems & Components / Operating system package or component
Vendor	Alpine Linux Development Team

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains one low risk vulnerability.

1) Null pointer dereference

EUVDB-ID: #VU13949

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 4.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L/E:P/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-14404

CWE-ID: CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause DoS condition on the target system.

The vulnerability exists in the xmlXPathCompOpEval() function, as defined in the path.c source code file due to improper parsing of invalid XPath expressions in the XPATH_OP_AND and XPATH_OP_OR cases. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted request that submits malicious input to an application that is using the affected library, trigger a NULL pointer dereference and cause the application to crash.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

libxml2 (Alpine package): 2.7.3-r0 - 2.9.8-r0

External links

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.