Xmlsoft libxml2 xmllint stack-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Xmlsoft libxml2. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the component xmllint. Performing a manipulation results in stack-based overflow. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2025-6170. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Xmlsoft libxml2 (the affected version is unknown). This affects an unknown code of the component xmllint. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a stack-based overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-121. A stack-based buffer overflow condition is a condition where the buffer being overwritten is allocated on the stack (i.e., is a local variable or, rarely, a parameter to a function). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

A flaw was found in the interactive shell of the xmllint command-line tool, used for parsing XML files. When a user inputs an overly long command, the program does not check the input size properly, which can cause it to crash. This issue might allow attackers to run harmful code in rare configurations without modern protections.

The advisory is shared at bugzilla.redhat.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-6170 since 06/16/2025. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 04/20/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 241674 (SUSE SLED15 / SLES15 Security Update : libxml2 (SUSE-SU-2025:02260-1)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (241674), EUVD (EUVD-2025-18442) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1118). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Affected

• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain OS

Productinfo

Type

• Document Processing Software

Vendor

• Xmlsoft

Name

• libxml2

License

• open-source

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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