dbcve.org
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2016-4448

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-06-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Format string vulnerability in libxml2 before 2.9.4 allows attackers to have unspecified impact via format string specifiers in unknown vectors.

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

Format string vulnerability in libxml2 before version 2.9.4 allows attackers to inject format string specifiers through unknown vectors, potentially enabling information disclosure, arbitrary memory writes, or remote code execution given the critical CVSS score of 9.8.

MitigationUpgrade libxml2 to version 2.9.4 or later to remediate this vulnerability; verify no custom code relies on vulnerable format string behavior.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Server AusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2= 7.3= 7.4= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux Server EusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2= 7.3= 7.4= 7.5= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux Server TusOperating system
Affected:= 7.2= 7.3= 7.6= 7.7
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 6= 7
Icewall Federation AgentApplication
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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Identify installed libxml2 version
    Run 'rpm -q libxml2' on RHEL/Oracle Linux or check package manager for HP Icewall. On Linux systems, you can also use 'xml2-config --version' or check '/usr/lib64/libxml2.so*' file version.
    Affected if The version returned is earlier than 2.9.4 (for example, 2.9.3, 2.9.2, etc.) or if the package is not found but the application depends on libxml2 functionality.
  2. Confirm library file presence
    Locate the libxml2 shared library file on the system. Common paths include '/usr/lib/libxml2.so*' or '/usr/lib64/libxml2.so*'. Use 'find /usr -name "libxml2*" 2>/dev/null' to locate.
    Affected if The library file exists on the system and its version cannot be determined or is below 2.9.4.
  3. Check application linkage
    Identify applications or services that link against libxml2 using 'ldd <executable>' or 'ldconfig -p | grep libxml'. Review web servers, XML processing tools, or custom applications using XML parsing.
    Affected if Any critical application or service dynamically links to a libxml2 library version earlier than 2.9.4.
  4. Verify exact version number
    Use 'rpm -qa | grep -i libxml2' to list installed libxml2 packages with full version strings including release numbers. Compare against the upstream version 2.9.4.
    Affected if The installed version string (for example, libxml2-2.9.1-13.el7) shows a version number less than 2.9.4.

Your environment is affected if any installed libxml2 library version is earlier than 2.9.4 and that library is used by applications on the listed Red Hat, Oracle Linux, or HP Icewall systems.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade libxml2 to version 2.9.4 or later to remediate this vulnerability; verify no custom code relies on vulnerable format string behavior.

Recommended fix High confidence

libxml2 version 2.9.4 or later (for RHEL 6.x and 7.x)

  1. Check current libxml2 version: rpm -qa | grep libxml2
  2. For RHEL 6 systems: run 'yum update libxml2' to get the fixed version
  3. For RHEL 7 systems: run 'yum update libxml2' to get the fixed version
  4. Verify the updated version is 2.9.4 or later: rpm -qa | grep libxml2
  5. Restart any services that use libxml2 to ensure the patched library is loaded
Caveat Minimal risk - this is a security fix for a format string vulnerability; updating libxml2 is a standard maintenance task with low risk of breaking changes

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2016-4448 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