The xmlParseConditionalSections function in parser.c in libxml2 does not properly skip…
Priority LOW 37CWE-119Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- — Not recorded in CVSS 2.0
- Attack complexity
- Medium
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Partial · Partial · Partial
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 17 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 2.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-119 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
The xmlParseConditionalSections function in parser.c in libxml2 does not properly skip intermediary entities when it stops parsing invalid input, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read and crash) via crafted XML data, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-7941.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.04476 91st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 2 exploit referencesTagged by NVD
Fix Partial Red Hat: 3 advisoriesRed Hat: 17 fixed, 3 without a fix
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 13
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_federation_agent:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0 | Vulnerable | Hewlett Packard Enterprise |
| cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_file_manager:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 3.0 | Vulnerable | Hewlett Packard Enterprise |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 7.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 9.2.1 | Vulnerable | Apple |
| cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 10.11.3 | Vulnerable | Apple |
| cpe:2.3:o:apple:tvos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 9.1 | Vulnerable | Apple |
| cpe:2.3:o:apple:watchos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 2.1 | Vulnerable | Apple |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | 12.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | 14.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
- cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_federation_agent:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.0 Vulnerable ·Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- cpe:2.3:a:hp:icewall_file_manager:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 3.0 Vulnerable ·Hewlett Packard Enterprise
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 7.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- cpe:2.3:o:apple:iphone_os:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 9.2.1 Vulnerable ·Apple
- cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 10.11.3 Vulnerable ·Apple
- cpe:2.3:o:apple:tvos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 9.1 Vulnerable ·Apple
- cpe:2.3:o:apple:watchos:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 2.1 Vulnerable ·Apple
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* Versions 12.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* Versions 14.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
Remediation
Red Hat 3 advisories
- RHSA-2016:1089 Released 2016-05-17 · Red Hat rating ModerateRed Hat JBoss Web Server 3.0.3 security update
- Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3.0
- RHSA-2015:2550 Released 2015-12-07 · Red Hat rating Moderatelibxml2 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2.ppc, libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2 +2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2.ppc
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.2
- RHSA-2015:2549 Released 2015-12-07 · Red Hat rating Moderatelibxml2 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) libxml2-devel-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-static-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) libxml2-devel-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-static-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1.ppc, libxml2-devel-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1 +2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) libxml2-static-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-devel-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) libxml2-static-2.7.6-20.el6_7.1
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 2 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2549 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2015:2550 |
| Red Hat JBoss Web Server 3.0 | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1089 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2015-7942
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-w76w-8f65-r427
References
Exploit 2
Advisory 20
- RHSA-2015:2550
- APPLE-SA-2016-03-21-5
- openSUSE-SU-2016:0106
- https://support.apple.com/HT206167
- https://support.apple.com/HT206168
- DSA-3430
- APPLE-SA-2016-03-21-1
- FEDORA-2016-a9ee80b01d
- RHSA-2016:1089
- APPLE-SA-2016-03-21-2
- RHSA-2015:2549
- USN-2812-1
- HPSBGN03537
- FEDORA-2016-189a7bf68c
- https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04944172
- GLSA-201701-37
- openSUSE-SU-2015:2372
- APPLE-SA-2016-03-21-3
- https://support.apple.com/HT206169
- https://support.apple.com/HT206166
Other 5
- [oss-security] 20151022 Crafted xml causes out of bound memory access - Libxml2
- http://xmlsoft.org/news.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinapr2016-2952098.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinoct2015-2719645.html
- [oss-security] 20151022 Re: Crafted xml causes out of bound memory access - Libxml2
Sources
- CVE-2015-7942 · CVE Program
- CVE-2015-7942 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-w76w-8f65-r427 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2015-7942 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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