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CVE-2016-1838

32
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-1838 is a heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in the xmlPArserPrintFileContextInternal function of libxml2 before version 2.9.4. This flaw affects various Apple operating systems including iOS, OS X, tvOS, and watchOS, as well as products from Canonical, Debian, McAfee, Red Hat, and Xmlsoft. Rated as Medium severity (CVSS 5.5), a remote attacker can trigger a denial of service by enticing a user to open a specially crafted XML document. While not listed in CISA's KEV catalog, public exploit code exists on ExploitDB, though there is no evidence of active exploitation or significant community discussion.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
12.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:12.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
14.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
15.10CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:15.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
16.04CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:*:*:*:lts:*:*:*
8.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

5.5MEDIUM

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
NONE
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
1.8
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
6.94%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
93.4%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
ExploitDB: EDB-39493 · Feb 24, 2016
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0694 is in the 98th percentile among its peer group of 5,758 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.0 Bluesky, 0.0 Mastodon, and 0.1 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.1 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (6)

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: libxml2-0:2.7.6-21.el6_8.1
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: libxml2-0:2.9.1-6.el7_2.3
View patch
redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api
Product: Text-Only JBCS
View patch
applevendor investigatingvia nvd_reference
View patch
redhatno patchvia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Web Server 3Fixed in: libxml2
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5Fixed in: libxml2

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-1838Moderate

libxml2: Heap-based buffer overread in xmlPArserPrintFileContextInternal

May 23, 2016

References

lists.apple.com / archives/security-announce/2016/May/msg00001.html
Mailing ListVendor Advisory
lists.apple.com / archives/security-announce/2016/May/msg00002.html
Mailing ListVendor Advisory
lists.apple.com / archives/security-announce/2016/May/msg00003.html
Mailing ListVendor Advisory
lists.apple.com / archives/security-announce/2016/May/msg00004.html
Mailing ListVendor Advisory
rhn.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2016-2957.html
Third Party Advisory
access.redhat.com / errata/RHSA-2016:1292
Third Party Advisory
bugs.chromium.org / p/project-zero/issues/detail
ExploitThird Party Advisory
bugzilla.gnome.org / show_bug.cgi
ExploitIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
git.gnome.org / browse/libxml2/commit
PatchThird Party Advisory
kc.mcafee.com / corporate/index
PatchThird Party Advisory
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201701-37
Third Party Advisory
support.apple.com / HT206564
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com / HT206566
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com / HT206567
Vendor Advisory
support.apple.com / HT206568
Vendor Advisory
debian.org / security/2016/dsa-3593
Third Party Advisory
tenable.com / security/tns-2016-18
Third Party Advisory
oracle.com / technetwork/topics/security/bulletinjul2016-3090568.html
Third Party Advisory
oracle.com / technetwork/topics/security/linuxbulletinjul2016-3090544.html
Third Party Advisory
oracle.com / technetwork/topics/security/ovmbulletinjul2016-3090546.html
Third Party Advisory
securityfocus.com / bid/90691
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
securitytracker.com / id/1035890
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-2994-1
Third Party Advisory
xmlsoft.org / news.html
Release NotesVendor Advisory