Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat
CVE-2017-15412
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 · uneditedUse after free in libxml2 before 2.9.5, as used in Google Chrome prior to 63.0.3239.84 and other products, allowed a remote attacker to potentially exploit heap corruption via a crafted HTML page.
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 confidenceUse-after-free vulnerability in libxml2 versions prior to 2.9.5 allows heap corruption when processing crafted HTML pages. A remote attacker can exploit this by tricking users into visiting malicious HTML content, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution.
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
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 6.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 6.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0
ChromeWeb browser
< 63.0.3239.84< 2.9.5CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed libxml2 library versionRun 'xml2-config --version' or 'pkg-config --modversion libxml-2.0' on Linux to get the libxml2 library versionAffected if Version is less than 2.9.5
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Check Google Chrome versionOpen Chrome, go to Settings > About Chrome, or navigate to chrome://version to see the installed Chrome versionAffected if Chrome version is less than 63.0.3239.84
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Identify applications using libxml2 for HTML processingCheck running processes or dependencies that link to libxml2 and process HTML content (e.g., web browsers, parsers, document converters)Affected if An application linked to a vulnerable libxml2 version processes untrusted HTML content
-
Check OS distribution and version for RHEL or DebianRun 'cat /etc/redhat-release' for RHEL or 'cat /etc/debian_version' for Debian to identify the OS versionAffected if Running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 or Debian 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0 with vulnerable libxml2 version bundled
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Verify libxml2 development package version if installedRun 'rpm -q libxml2' (RHEL) or 'dpkg -l libxml2' (Debian) to query the installed libxml2 package versionAffected if Installed package version is less than 2.9.5
You are affected if your system runs libxml2 version prior to 2.9.5, Chrome prior to 63.0.3239.84, or uses affected RHEL/Debian versions that bundle a vulnerable libxml2 library for processing HTML content.
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 data2.9.563.0.3239.84
Update libxml2 to version 2.9.5 or later, or update affected products (e.g., Google Chrome to 63.0.3239.84 or later) that bundle the vulnerable library version.
Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-15412 — 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-2017-15412 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data