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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2015-8242

MEDIUM · 5.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-12-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.9.2 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
The xmlSAX2TextNode function in SAX2.c in the push interface in the HTML parser in libxml2 before 2.9.3 allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (stack-based buffer over-read and application crash) or obtain sensitive information via crafted XML data.

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 confidence

Stack-based buffer over-read vulnerability in libxml2's HTML parser (xmlSAX2TextNode function in SAX2.c push interface). Crafted XML input can read beyond buffer boundaries, causing denial of service via crash or potential information disclosure from stack memory.

MitigationUpgrade libxml2 to version 2.9.3 or later to obtain the fix for this vulnerability.

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
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 15.04= 15.10
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux Hpc NodeOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0
Libxml2Framework / library
Affected:<= 2.9.2
Icewall Federation AgentApplication
Affected:= 3.0
Icewall File ManagerApplication
Affected:= 3.0

CVSS 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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed libxml2 version
    Run 'xml2-config --version' or check via package manager (dpkg -r libxml2 for Debian/Ubuntu, rpm -q libxml2 for RHEL)
    Affected if Version returned is 2.9.2 or earlier
  2. Verify libxml2 development files are present
    Check for /usr/include/libxml2/libxml/xmlversion.h or run 'pkg-config --modversion libxml-2.0'
    Affected if Cannot retrieve version or version is <= 2.9.2
  3. Identify processes or applications using libxml2 HTML parsing
    Run 'ldd <binary>' on suspected applications or check /etc/ld.so.conf for libxml2 linkage, then review if HTML parsing functions (htmlReadFile, htmlReadDoc) are in use
    Affected if Application links to libxml2 and performs HTML parsing with untrusted input
  4. Check for vulnerable library in common paths
    Locate libxml2.so files with 'find /usr -name "libxml2.so*" -ls' and examine version in filename or via 'strings' on the library
    Affected if Library file version in path or metadata shows 2.9.2 or earlier
  5. Review application logs or error reports
    Search application logs for crashes or errors related to HTML parsing (grep -i "html" /var/log/*)
    Affected if Crashes occur during HTML document processing with stack trace showing xmlSAX2TextNode

System is affected if libxml2 version is 2.9.2 or earlier AND any application or service processes HTML content using libxml2.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.9.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade libxml2 to version 2.9.3 or later to obtain the fix for this vulnerability.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8242 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data