Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-4571
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 mxml_write_node function in mxml-file.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 · high confidenceA stack consumption vulnerability in the mxml_write_node function in mxml-file.c allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by providing a crafted XML file that triggers excessive recursive stack usage during parsing. The vulnerability affects mxml versions 2.7, 2.9, and earlier.
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 if mxml library is installedRun 'dpkg -l | grep mxml' on Debian systems, or check for library files like 'libmxml.so' or 'libmxml.a' in /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or via 'ldconfig -p | grep mxml'Affected if No mxml library found means this CVE does not apply to your environment
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Determine installed mxml versionRun 'pkg-config --modversion mxml' or check the library file version with 'dpkg -l | grep mxml' to see the installed version numberAffected if Installed version is 2.7, 2.9, or any version <= 2.7 indicates vulnerability to this CVE
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Check for applications using mxmlRun 'ldconfig -p | grep mxml' to list programs that link against mxml, or search application binaries with 'ldd <application> | grep mxml' for specific appsAffected if Applications or services link to the vulnerable mxml library version and process XML input
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Identify if XML parsing accepts external inputReview application configuration or code to determine if XML files are parsed from untrusted sources such as user uploads, network requests, or external APIsAffected if Applications process XML from untrusted sources using the vulnerable mxml library version, making them susceptible to stack exhaustion via crafted files
Your environment is affected if mxml version 2.7, 2.9, or earlier is installed and any application linked to it parses XML from external or untrusted sources.
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 dataUpdate mxml library to a patched version when available. Additionally, implement input validation and size limits on XML files before processing, and consider adding resource constraints or timeouts for XML parsing operations.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4571 — 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-2016-4571 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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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.
- 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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