CVE-2008-4409
libxml2 2.7.0 and 2.7.1 does not properly handle "predefined entities definitions" in entities, which allows context-dependent attackers…
- 5.0MediumCVSS base score
- 8.5%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 4.9% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
libxml2 2.7.0 and 2.7.1 does not properly handle "predefined entities definitions" in entities, which allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption and application crash), as demonstrated by use of xmllint on a certain XML document, a different vulnerability than CVE-2003-1564 and CVE-2008-3281.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list an Exploit-DB entry for it.
Show the exploits1
Exploit-DB1 entry
- libxml2 - Denial of Service (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 32454dos, unixpublished 2 Oct 2008Verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
Published
- 16 years later
· 16 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVDNVD · Modified | 2.0 | Medium5.0 | AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 8.5% · top 4.9% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 5.0.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
18
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3639 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- ADV-2009-1621 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- APPLE-SA-2009-06-08-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_APPLEx_transferred
- FEDORA-2008-8575 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
- ADV-2009-1522 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_VUPENx_transferred
- GLSA-200812-06 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOx_transferred
- APPLE-SA-2009-06-17-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_APPLEx_transferred
- [oss-security] 20081002 libxml2 "ampproblem" DoS (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- 32130 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- MDVSA-2008:212 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_MANDRIVAx_transferred
- 35379 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 31555 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- FEDORA-2008-8582 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_FEDORAx_transferred
- 32974 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- 32175 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SECUNIAx_transferred
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3613 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- libxml2-xml-file-dos(45633) (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_XFx_transferred
- http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=554660 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2008-4390 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2008-4409)Record last updated .