Infinite loop in libxml2 (Alpine package)

Published: 2018-10-24

Risk	Low
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2018-9251
CWE-ID	CWE-835
Exploitation vector	Network
Public exploit	N/A
Vulnerable software	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) Infinite loop

EUVDB-ID: #VU15364

Risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 1.2 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-9251

CWE-ID: CWE-835 - Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')

Exploit availability: No

Description

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

The vulnerability exists in the xz_decomp() function of the GNOME libxml2 library, as defined in the xzlib.c source code due to an infinite loop condition in the Lempel-Ziv-Markov (LZMA) decompression feature during the processing of XML files. A remote unauthenticated attacker can trick the victim into opening a specially crafted XML file that submits malicious input, trigger an LZMA_MEMLIMIT_ERROR condition and cause the application to crash.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

libxml2 (Alpine package): 2.9.8-r0

CPE2.3

cpe:2.3:a:alpine:libxml2_alpine_package:2.9.8-r0:*:*:*:*:alpine_linux:*:3.4

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.