Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-4570
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 · uneditedThe mxmlDelete function in mxml-node.c in mxml 2.9, 2.7, and possibly earlier allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (stack consumption) via crafted xml file.
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 confidenceThe mxmlDelete function in mxml-node.c (versions 2.7, 2.9, and earlier) contains a stack consumption vulnerability where processing a crafted XML file with deeply nested elements triggers excessive recursive calls, leading to stack exhaustion and denial of service.
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
= 8.0<= 2.7= 2.9CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Mini-XML library versionRun 'dpkg -l libmxml1' on Debian systems, or check the library binary with 'strings libmxml.so | grep -i version' or examine mxml-version.h header file if source is availableAffected if Version is 2.7, 2.9, or any version <= 2.9
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Confirm Debian 8.0 environmentRun 'cat /etc/debian_version' to check the Debian release versionAffected if Running Debian 8.0 which ships the vulnerable mxml package
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Detect mxml library usage in applicationSearch application binaries or libraries for mxml function calls: 'ldd <binary> | grep mxml' or 'nm <binary> | grep mxml' to see if mxmlDelete, mxmlLoadFile, or related functions are linkedAffected if Application links against the mxml library and uses XML parsing functions
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Check for untrusted XML input processingReview application configuration or code to determine if it processes XML files from untrusted sources, external users, or network inputAffected if Application parses XML from untrusted or user-supplied sources that could contain deeply nested elements
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Monitor stack usage during XML operationsIf possible, instrument the application with tools like 'ulimit -s' to check stack size limits, or use profiling to observe stack consumption when parsing complex XML documentsAffected if Stack limits are not restricted and the application can trigger deep recursion during mxmlDelete operations
You are affected if your system runs Debian 8.0, or if you use Mini-XML library version 2.7 or 2.9 (or any version <= 2.9), and your application parses untrusted XML files that could contain deeply nested elements processed by mxmlDelete.
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 dataImplement input validation to limit XML document depth during parsing, or refactor mxmlDelete to use iterative traversal instead of recursion to prevent stack overflow; also consider sandboxing with restricted stack size.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4570 — 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-2016-4570 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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