CVE-2018-9251 — The xz_decomp function in xzlib

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.

01What is this vulnerability?

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.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / n/a	n/a

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

08Timeline

• Published: 2018-04-04T02:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2024-08-05T07:17:51.941Z

09References

• bugzilla.gnome.org — https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=794914
• lists.debian.org — https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/09/msg00035.html