Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2015-7498
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in the xmlParseXmlDecl function in parser.c in libxml2 before 2.9.3 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service via unspecified vectors related to extracting errors after an encoding conversion failure.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in the xmlParseXmlDecl function in parser.c in libxml2 before 2.9.3. The vulnerability is triggered when processing XML declarations where an encoding conversion failure occurs, followed by error extraction, allowing context-dependent attackers to cause denial of service via specially crafted XML input.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 12.04= 14.04= 15.04= 15.10
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 8.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Hpc NodeOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0= 3.0= 3.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate libxml2 libraryRun `ldconfig -p | grep libxml` or check for libxml2 files in /usr/lib/ or /usr/lib64/Affected if libxml2 library is present on the system
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Identify installed libxml2 versionRun `xml2 --version` or `pkg-config --modversion libxml-2.0` or check with package manager: `dpkg -l | grep libxml2` (Debian/Ubuntu) or `rpm -q libxml2` (RHEL)Affected if version returned is earlier than 2.9.3 or version cannot be determined
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Verify XML parsing is in useSearch application dependencies or configuration for libxml2 usage: `ldd /path/to/application | grep libxml` or check application logs for XML processing activityAffected if applications link against libxml2 and process XML input from untrusted sources
The system is affected if libxml2 version is present and is earlier than 2.9.3, and applications using libxml2 to parse XML declarations are in operation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade libxml2 to version 2.9.3 or later to patch the heap-based buffer overflow in the xmlParseXmlDecl function.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,864.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-7498 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-7498 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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