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TI-2003-01464 Aliases CVE-2003-1564GHSA-6wfm-7hqx-39wg

libxml2, possibly before 2.5.0, does not properly detect recursion during entity…

Priority LOW 32CWE-776Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

libxml2, possibly before 2.5.0, does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references, aka the "billion laughs attack."

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.01619 76th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Red Hat: 1 advisory

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
——all versions—No fix listedCNA
  • — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 2.5.0Vulnerablexmlsoft
  • cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 2.5.0 Vulnerable ·xmlsoft

Remediation

Red Hat 1 advisory

  • RHSA-2008:0886 Released 2008-09-11 · Red Hat rating Important
    libxml2 security update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (Advanced Server) version 2.1 libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent, libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent.i386, libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent.ia64 +4
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 2.1 libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent, libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent.i386, libxml2-devel-2.4.19-11.ent.i386 +1
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 2.1 libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent, libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent.i386, libxml2-devel-2.4.19-11.ent.i386 +1
    • Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation 2.1 libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent, libxml2-2.4.19-11.ent.ia64, libxml2-devel-2.4.19-11.ent.ia64 +1

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS (Advanced Server) version 2.1 Fixed RHSA-2008:0886
Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 2.1Fixed RHSA-2008:0886
Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS version 2.1Fixed RHSA-2008:0886
Red Hat Linux Advanced Workstation 2.1Fixed RHSA-2008:0886

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2003-1564
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-6wfm-7hqx-39wg

References

Patch 1

Advisory 1

Other 3

  • TI-2020-06117 xmlStringLenDecodeEntities in parser.c in libxml2 2.9.10 has an infinite loop in a certain end-of-file situation. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2025-05441 Libxml2: integer overflow in xmlbuildqname() leads to stack buffer overflow in libxml2 CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-22792 An issue was discovered in xmllint (from libxml2) before 2.11.8 and 2.12.x before 2.12.7. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2017-06514 libxml2 20904-GITv2.9.4-16-g0741801 is vulnerable to a heap-based buffer over-read in the… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2022-19140 An issue was discovered in libxml2 before 2.10.3. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2025-23491 Out-of-bounds read in xmlsoft libxml2 CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
See all 114 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences