Vulnerability Monitor

The vendors, products, and vulnerabilities you care about

CVE-2018-9251

The xz_decomp function in xzlib.c in libxml2 2.9.8, if --with-lzma is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (infinite loop) via a crafted XML file that triggers LZMA_MEMLIMIT_ERROR, as demonstrated by xmllint, a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-8035.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from xmlsoft, from debian organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2018, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2018-04-04T02:29:00.320

Last Modified

2024-11-21T04:15:13.273

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 5.3 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

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

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: HIGH
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

4.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-835

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	xmlsoft	libxml2	2.9.8	Yes
Operating System	debian	debian_linux	8.0	Yes

References

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=794914 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00035.html Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=794914 Exploit, Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00035.html Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

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.