CVE-2018-14647

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Summary

CVECVE-2018-14647
StatePUBLISHED
Assignerredhat
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2018-09-25 00:29:00 UTC
Updated2026-10-07 19:17:11 UTC
DescriptionPython's elementtree C accelerator failed to initialise Expat's hash salt during initialization. This could make it easy to conduct denial of service attacks against Expat by constructing an XML document that would cause pathological hash collisions in Expat's internal data structures, consuming large amounts CPU and RAM. The vulnerability exists in Python versions 3.7.0, 3.6.0 through 3.6.6, 3.5.0 through 3.5.6, 3.4.0 through 3.4.9, 2.7.0 through 2.7.15.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.109110000 probability, percentile 0.957730000 (date 2026-10-07)

Problem Types: CWE-335 | CWE-665 | CWE-909 | CWE-665 CWE-665 | CWE-335 CWE-335

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary7.5HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
3.0[email protected]Secondary5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
3.0CNADECLARED5.3MEDIUMCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
2.0[email protected]Primary5AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

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

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

CVSS v3.0 Breakdown

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

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

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Network
Access Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 12.04 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 14.04 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 16.04 All All All
Operating System Canonical Ubuntu Linux 18.04 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 8.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 9.0 All All All
Operating System Fedoraproject Fedora 30 All All All
Operating System Opensuse Leap 15.1 All All All
Application Python Python 3.7.0 All All All
Application Python Python All All All All
Application Python Python All All All All
Application Python Python All All All All
Application Python Python All All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop 7.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Server 7.0 All All All
Operating System Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation 7.0 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA The Python Project Python affected 3.8, 3.7, 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 2.7 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Python CVE-2018-14647 Remote Denial of Service Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com Third Party Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com Third Party Advisory
1631822 – (CVE-2018-14647) CVE-2018-14647 python: Missing salt initialization in _elementtree.c module af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 bugzilla.redhat.com Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] Fedora 30 Update: python2-2.7.16-1.fc30 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
Issue 34623: _elementtree.c doesn't call XML_SetHashSalt() - Python tracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 bugs.python.org Issue Tracking, Patch, Vendor Advisory
USN-3817-2: Python vulnerabilities | Ubuntu security notices af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 usn.ubuntu.com Third Party Advisory
[security-announce] openSUSE-SU-2020:0086-1: important: Security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.opensuse.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-4306-1 python2.7 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.debian.org Third Party Advisory
Pony Mail! af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.apache.org
[SECURITY] [DLA 1834-1] python2.7 security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 access.redhat.com Third Party Advisory
USN-3817-1: Python vulnerabilities | Ubuntu security notices af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 usn.ubuntu.com Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-4307-1 python3.5 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.debian.org Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] [DLA 1835-1] python3.4 security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Python elementtree C Accelerator Lets Remote Users Consume Excessive CPU and Memory Resources - SecurityTracker af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securitytracker.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
[SECURITY] Fedora 30 Update: python2-2.7.16-1.fc30 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists MITRE lists.fedoraproject.org
Pony Mail! MITRE lists.apache.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 296081 Oracle Solaris 11.4 Support Repository Update (SRU) 12.5.0 Missing (CPUJUL2019)
  • 377306 Alibaba Cloud Linux Security Update for python (ALINUX2-SA-2019:0094)
  • 500584 Alpine Linux Security Update for python2

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