CVE-2025-7425VulnerabilityPublished 7 Aug 2025Updated 12 Oct 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: libxml2 security update

Affects Red Hat libxml2Source GCVE Database

Authoritative record:CVE-2025-7425· High 7.8

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High : upgrade the Debian debian/libxml2 package to 2.15.2 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 09:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.8High

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 38% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.15.2

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

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Jul 2025
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 26 Oct 2026.

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 libxml2 and the Debian debian/libxml2 package to 2.15.2.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GNOMElibxml2	Affected <2.15.2	Fixed in 2.15.2
Debiandebian/libxml2`pkg:deb/debian/libxml2`Other threats	Affected <2.15.2	Fixed in 2.15.2

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

AI-suggested

Red Hat has released official security updates that address this vulnerability. Users should apply the provided libxml2 package updates for their respective Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions and architectures as detailed in the Red Hat advisories RHSA-2025:12450 and RHSA-2025:12447. Refer to https://access.redhat.com/articles/11258 for update instructions. No additional mitigation is required beyond applying these official patches.

Description

The libxml2 library is a development toolbox providing the implementation of various XML standards. Security Fix(es): * libxslt: Heap Use-After-Free in libxslt caused by atype corruption in xmlAttrPtr (CVE-2025-7425) For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Impact

The vulnerability allows for heap use-after-free conditions which can cause memory corruption. This may lead to application crashes or potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service depending on the context in which libxslt is used. Red Hat rates the security impact as Important (high). No known exploits in the wild have been reported at this time.

Summary

The libxml2 library, which implements various XML standards, contains a heap use-after-free vulnerability in its libxslt component caused by a type corruption in the xmlAttrPtr structure (CVE-2025-7425). This flaw can lead to memory corruption issues. Red Hat has issued security advisories and updated packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 7, 8, and 9 on multiple architectures including x86_64, s390x, ppc64le, and aarch64. The advisories provide updated libxml2 packages that fix this vulnerability.

CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
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)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Aug 2026, 16:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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