CVE-2026-77214
libexpat Heap Buffer Over-read in xmlparse.c via XML_ParseBuffer
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 8.3 High
- Published
- Oct 7, 2026
- Updated
- Oct 27, 2026
- Reserved
- Aug 20, 2026
Description
libexpat before commit 13c5f63 contains a heap buffer over-read vulnerability in xmlparse.c. XML_ParseBuffer advances the parse buffer end with parser->m_bufferEnd += len using a caller-supplied length that is not validated against the allocated buffer size, so repeated XML_ParseBuffer calls move m_bufferEnd past the end of the heap allocation and subsequent parsing reads out of bounds. Reaching this path requires a parse buffer to already be present; otherwise XML_ParseBuffer returns XML_ERROR_NO_BUFFER. A buffer is present after a prior call to XML_GetBuffer, either directly (the common case) or indirectly through a prior XML_Parse call that allocates the buffer internally. The over-read discloses adjacent heap memory to the calling application, recovering heap pointers, libc function pointers, and code pointers sufficient to defeat ASLR and build further exploitation primitives.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 8.3 High | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N | VulnCheck |
| 3.1 | 8.2 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L | VulnCheck |
Weaknesses
- CWE-125 Out-of-bounds Read
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
libexpatlibexpat |
|
References
- Pull Requestissue-tracking
- Patch Commitpatch
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/libexpat-heap-buffer-over-read-in-xmlparse-c-via-xml-parsebufferthird-party-advisory
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