dbcve.org
Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian

CVE-2016-2073

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-02-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.9.4 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 htmlParseNameComplex function in HTMLparser.c in libxml2 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read) via a crafted XML document.

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 · moderate confidence

libxml2's htmlParseNameComplex function in HTMLparser.c contains an out-of-bounds read vulnerability. An attacker can trigger this by providing a specially crafted XML document, causing the parser to read memory outside allocated buffers and resulting in a denial of service condition.

MitigationUpdate libxml2 to the latest version containing the security patch. Audit all applications and systems that use libxml2 to confirm the update is applied across the environment.

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
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 12.04= 14.04= 15.10= 16.04
Libxml2Framework / library
Affected:< 2.9.4

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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. Check if libxml2 is installed
    Run `dpkg -l libxml2` on Debian/Ubuntu or `rpm -qa | grep libxml2` on RHEL-based systems. Alternatively, search for the library file: `find /usr -name 'libxml2*' 2>/dev/null`
    Affected if libxml2 is not present on the system (not affected)
  2. Determine the installed libxml2 version
    Run `xml2 --version` or `pkg-config --modversion libxml-2.0`. If the xml2 command is unavailable, examine the library file directly: `ls -l /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxml2.so.*` or check via package manager: `dpkg -l | grep libxml2`
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 2.9.4 (potentially affected)
  3. Verify the exact version number against the affected range
    Compare the installed version to the affected ranges: < 2.9.4 for all versions, and specific Debian 8.0 / Ubuntu 12.04, 14.04, 15.10, 16.04 if using those distributions
    Affected if Installed version is below 2.9.4, or the OS matches Debian 8.0/Ubuntu 12.04/14.04/15.10/16.04 with the bundled libxml2 version < 2.9.4
  4. Identify applications using libxml2 HTML parsing
    Search for processes or applications that parse HTML/XML documents: review running services, web applications, or custom code that invokes libxml2. Check configuration files for applications that depend on libxml2 for HTML processing
    Affected if Applications that use libxml2's HTML parsing functionality are present and running (the vulnerability could be triggered)
  5. Confirm the vulnerability trigger path exists
    Review if untrusted HTML or XML documents can be fed to any libxml2-consuming application. Check for web services, file upload mechanisms, or data import features that process HTML content
    Affected if Untrusted HTML documents can be processed by any libxml2-using application (exposure vector present)

You are affected if libxml2 version is below 2.9.4 AND your system runs applications that process HTML documents using libxml2, allowing specially crafted documents to be parsed.

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 2.9.4 or later
Fixed in 2.9.4
Interim mitigation

Update libxml2 to the latest version containing the security patch. Audit all applications and systems that use libxml2 to confirm the update is applied across the environment.

Fix this in Debian Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2073 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2016-2073 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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