The (1) xmlParserEntityCheck and (2) xmlParseAttValueComplex functions in parser.c in…
Priority MEDIUM 41CWE-20Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 17 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
The (1) xmlParserEntityCheck and (2) xmlParseAttValueComplex functions in parser.c in libxml2 2.9.3 do not properly keep track of the recursion depth, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption and application crash) via a crafted XML document containing a large number of nested entity references.
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.05103 92nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial Red Hat: 2 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 · 9
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 15.10 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* | 16.04 | Vulnerable | Canonical |
| cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:2.9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 2.9.3 | Vulnerable | xmlsoft |
| cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 8.0 | Vulnerable | Debian |
| 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:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 42.1 | Vulnerable | openSUSE |
- 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
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 15.10 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:* Versions 16.04 Vulnerable ·Canonical
- cpe:2.3:a:xmlsoft:libxml2:2.9.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 2.9.3 Vulnerable ·xmlsoft
- cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 8.0 Vulnerable ·Debian
- 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:opensuse:leap:42.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 42.1 Vulnerable ·openSUSE
Remediation
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2016:2957 Released 2016-12-15 · Red Hat rating ImportantRed Hat JBoss Core Services Apache HTTP 2.4.23 Release
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services
- RHSA-2016:1292 Released 2016-06-23 · Red Hat rating Importantlibxml2 security update
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) libxml2-devel-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-static-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) libxml2-devel-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-static-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1.ppc, libxml2-devel-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1 +2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3.ppc, libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3 +2
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) libxml2-static-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3.ppc
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) libxml2-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-devel-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1, libxml2-python-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) libxml2-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-devel-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3, libxml2-python-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) libxml2-static-2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) libxml2-static-2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 3 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) | Fixed | RHSA-2016:1292 |
| Red Hat JBoss Core Services | Fixed | RHSA-2016:2957 |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2016-3705
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r6qj-ff26-p4v7
References
Advisory 7
Other 8
- 20160503 CVE-2016-3627 CVE-2016-3705: libxml2: stack overflow in xml validator (parser)
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
- https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05157239
- https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=SB10170
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjul2016-3090544.html
- http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
- https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2016-18
- https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=765207
Sources
- CVE-2016-3705 · CVE Program
- CVE-2016-3705 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r6qj-ff26-p4v7 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2016-3705 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences