CVE-2024-34459VulnerabilityPublished 13 May 2024Updated 15 Oct 2026

CVE-2024-34459: libxml2 · n/a

Affects libxml2Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 2.12.7 or 2.11.8 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 78% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.12.7, 2.11.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 13 May 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade gnome/libxml2 to 2.12.7 or 2.11.8.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubgnome/libxml2`pkg:github/gnome/libxml2`Other threats	Affected <2.11.8 <2.12.7	Fixed in 2.11.8 2.12.7

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

1. Immediately upgrade libxml2 to version 2.11.8 or 2.12.7 or later, where the vulnerability is patched. 2. Audit all systems and applications that utilize xmllint or libxml2 for XML processing, especially those using the --htmlout option, to identify and remediate vulnerable instances. 3. Restrict or sanitize XML inputs from untrusted sources to reduce the risk of triggering the vulnerability. 4. Implement network-level controls to limit exposure of services that process XML data with xmllint, including firewall rules and segmentation. 5. Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual XML parsing errors or attempts to exploit xmllint error formatting. 6. Consider deploying runtime application self-protection (RASP) or memory safety tools to detect and prevent buffer over-read attempts. 7. Educate development and operations teams about the vulnerability and the importance of timely patching and secure XML handling practices.

Description

An issue was discovered in xmllint (from libxml2) before 2.11.8 and 2.12.x before 2.12.7. Formatting error messages with xmllint --htmlout can result in a buffer over-read in xmlHTMLPrintFileContext in xmllint.c.

Impact

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2024-34459 is the potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information due to buffer over-read in xmllint error message formatting. Organizations that use libxml2 and xmllint in automated XML processing pipelines, web services, or security tools may inadvertently expose memory contents that could include confidential data or cryptographic material. This can lead to breaches of data protection regulations such as GDPR, resulting in legal and financial consequences. The vulnerability does not affect integrity or availability directly but compromises confidentiality, which is critical for sectors handling sensitive personal, financial, or governmental data. The ease of remote exploitation without authentication increases the risk, especially for internet-facing systems or those processing untrusted XML inputs. European critical infrastructure, financial institutions, and technology companies relying on open-source XML libraries are particularly vulnerable. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the widespread use of libxml2 means the attack surface is broad.

CWE-122Heap-based Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #16
A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().
Pre-design: Use a language or compiler that performs automatic bounds checking.
Architecture and Design
Use an abstraction library to abstract away risky APIs. Not a complete solution.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Forced Integer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 10 Nov 2025, 20:20 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-122

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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