Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2008-3281

libxml2 2.6.32 and earlier does not properly detect recursion during entity expansion in an attribute value, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory and CPU consumption) via a crafted XML document.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.5, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 11 products from xmlsoft, from apple, from apple and 8 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Originally identified in 2008, this vulnerability predates many modern security frameworks and practices. The vulnerability landscape of that era was characterized by different threat models and less mature defense mechanisms compared to contemporary standards.

Published

2008-08-27T20:41:00.000

Last Modified

2026-04-23T00:35:47.467

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.5 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: MEDIUM
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: NONE
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: PARTIAL
Exploitability Score

8.6

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-776
Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application xmlsoft libxml2 ≤ 2.6.32 Yes
Application apple safari < 4.0 Yes
Operating System apple iphone_os < 3.0 Yes
Operating System fedoraproject fedora 9 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 6.06 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 7.04 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 7.10 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 8.04 Yes
Operating System debian debian_linux 4.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 3.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 4.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 5.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_eus 4.7 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_eus 5.2 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 2.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 3.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 4.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_server 5.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 2.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 3.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 4.0 Yes
Operating System redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 5.0 Yes
Operating System vmware esx 2.5.4 Yes
Operating System vmware esx 2.5.5 Yes
Operating System vmware esx 3.0.2 Yes
Operating System vmware esx 3.0.3 Yes
References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For xmlsoft's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.