#VU12378 XXE attack in expat - CVE-2016-4472

Vulnerability identifier: #VU12378

Vulnerability risk: Low

CVSSv4.0: 6.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-4472

CWE-ID: CWE-611

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
expat
Universal components / Libraries / Libraries used by multiple products

Vendor: libexpat.org

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

The weakness exists due to the overflow protection in Expat is removed by compilers with certain optimization settings. A remote attacker can supply specially crafted XML data and cause the service to crash.

The vulnerability exists due to incomplete fix for CVE-2015-1283 and CVE-2015-2716.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

expat: 1.95.0 - 2.2.4

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External links
https://sourceforge.net/p/expat/code_git/ci/f0bec73b018caa07d3e75ec8dd967f3785d71bde

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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.