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CVE-2026-86141: CWE-252 Unchecked Return Value in xmlsoft libxml2

0
Low
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-86141cvecve-2026-86141cwe-252gcveosvghsa-7g6w-jj32-qj92ghsaubuntu-cve-2026-86141ubuntu-pro-14-04-ltsubuntu-pro-16-04-ltsubuntu-pro-18-04-ltsubuntu-pro-20-04-ltsubuntu-22-04-ltsubuntu-24-04-ltsubuntu-26-04-lts
Published: 09/05/2026 (09/05/2026, 04:27:59 UTC)
Source: CVE Database V5
Vendor/Project: xmlsoft
Product: libxml2

Description

xmlregexp in libxml2 before 2.15.4 has a NULL pointer dereference in xmlRegNewParserCtxt after a strdup failure, i.e., it does not calculate a string length after NULL checking.

CVSS v3.1

Score 2.9low

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Affected software

xmlsoft

libxml2

Affected versions
>=0 <2.15.4

AI-Powered Analysis

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AILast updated: 09/15/2026, 00:28:33 UTC

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability in libxml2 (xmlregexp) prior to version 2.15.4 is due to an unchecked return value from strdup, which can return NULL. The function xmlRegNewParserCtxt does not handle this NULL pointer correctly and proceeds without recalculating string length, causing a NULL pointer dereference. This can lead to a denial of service by crashing the application using this library.

Potential Impact

The impact is limited to availability, as the NULL pointer dereference can cause a denial of service (application crash). There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity according to the CVSS vector and description.

Mitigation Recommendations

A fix is available in libxml2 version 2.15.4 and later. Users should upgrade to version 2.15.4 or newer to remediate this issue. Patch status is confirmed by the affectedVersions field indicating versions before 2.15.4 are vulnerable.

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Technical Details

Data Version
5.2
Assigner Short Name
mitre
Date Reserved
2026-09-05T04:27:58.625Z
Cvss Version
3.1
State
PUBLISHED

Threat ID: 6a9b9ca2acd9273b49507017

Added to database: 09/05/2026, 04:37:54 UTC

Last enriched: 09/15/2026, 00:28:33 UTC

Last updated: 10/20/2026, 06:48:19 UTC

Views: 95

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