CVE-2016-1837: Use After Free

Published May 20, 2016
·
Updated

A vulnerability was found in the libxml2 library. A maliciously crafted file could cause the application to crash due to a Heap use-after-free in htmlParsePubidLiteral and htmlParseSystemiteral

References:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/showbug.cgi?id=760263

Upstream fix:

https://git.gnome.org/browse/libxml2/commit/?id=11ed4a7a90d5ce156a18980a4ad4e53e77384852

Other sources

Multiple use-after-free vulnerabilities in the (1) htmlPArsePubidLiteral and (2) htmlParseSystemiteral functions in libxml2 before 2.9.4, as used in Apple iOS before 9.3.2, OS X before 10.11.5, tvOS before 9.2.1, and watchOS before 2.2.1, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted XML document.

Affected Software

31 affected componentsFixes available
debian/libxml2
2.9.4+dfsg1-7+deb10u42.9.4+dfsg1-7+deb10u62.9.10+dfsg-6.7+deb11u42.9.14+dfsg-1.3~deb12u12.9.14+dfsg-1.3
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=12.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=14.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=15.10
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=16.04
Debian Debian Linux=8.0
Apple iPhone OS<9.3.2
Apple iOS and macOS<10.11.5
Apple tvOS<9.2.1
Apple WatchOS<2.2.1
redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop=6.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop=7.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Server=6.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Server=7.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=7.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=7.3
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=7.4
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus=7.6
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus=7.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus=7.3
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus=7.4
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus=7.5
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Eus=7.6
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=7.2
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=7.3
redhat Enterprise Linux Server Tus=7.6
redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation=6.0
redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation=7.0
McAfee Web Gateway>=7.5.0.0<=7.5.2.10
McAfee Web Gateway>=7.6.0.0<=7.6.2.3
Xmlsoft Libxml2<2.9.4

Event History

May 20, 2016
CVE Published
via MITRE·10:00 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·10:00 AM
Description
May 23, 2016
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·09:40 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2016-1837?

CVE-2016-1837 is considered a high severity vulnerability due to potential crashes caused by heap use-after-free errors.

2

How do I fix CVE-2016-1837?

To fix CVE-2016-1837, update your libxml2 library to a version that is 2.9.4+dfsg1-7+deb10u6 or later.

3

Which software is affected by CVE-2016-1837?

CVE-2016-1837 affects versions of libxml2 as well as various Linux distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, and Red Hat.

4

What types of attacks can exploit CVE-2016-1837?

CVE-2016-1837 can be exploited by attackers using maliciously crafted files to cause applications to crash.

5

Is there a risk of data loss with CVE-2016-1837?

While the primary risk with CVE-2016-1837 is application crash, it may lead to data loss depending on the application behavior at crash time.

Contact

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