Stack-Based Buffer Overflow in libxml2
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-11979 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | CERT-PL |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-06-29 14:16:40 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-06-30 20:22:07 UTC |
| Description | libxml2 is vulnerable to multiple stack-based buffer overflows in the xmlcatalog utility when running in --shell mode. The usershell() function processes user input using fixed-size stack buffers without proper bounds checking. By supplying an overly long input line, an attacker can overflow internal buffers (command, arg, and argv) during input parsing. This results in memory corruption within the stack frame. Successful exploitation may cause a crash or potentially allow arbitrary code execution in the context of the xmlcatalog process. This issue has been fixed in the commit c2e233fc. NOTE: The maintainers of this project did not agree that this issue is a vulnerability and considered it a bug. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 1.8 LOW from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS: 0.001480000 probability, percentile 0.044090000 (date 2026-07-04)
Problem Types: CWE-121 | CWE-121 CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 1.8 | LOW | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 1.8 | LOW | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N |
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Primary | 7.8 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
PresentPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
ActiveConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
LowSub Conf.
LowSub Integrity
LowSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
RequiredScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/commit/c2e233fc1b341685fc99621b2768b503f777a72e | [email protected] | gitlab.gnome.org | Patch |
| cert.pl/en/posts/2026/06/CVE-2026-11979 | [email protected] | cert.pl | Third Party Advisory |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: Michał Majchrowicz (AFINE Team) (en)
CNA: Marcin Wyczechowski (AFINE Team) (en)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.