Tinyxml2Application · Tinyxml2 Project

CVE-2018-11210

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-16
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
TinyXML2 6.2.0 has a heap-based buffer over-read in the XMLDocument::Parse function in libtinyxml2.so. NOTE: The tinyxml2 developers have determined that the reported overflow is due to improper use of the library and not a vulnerability in tinyxml2

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

TinyXML2 6.2.0 contains a heap-based buffer over-read vulnerability in the XMLDocument::Parse function within libtinyxml2.so. This memory safety issue could allow an attacker to read sensitive heap memory contents or potentially crash the application via specially crafted XML input.

MitigationThe vendor attributes this to improper library usage; however, organizations should validate all XML input before parsing, ensure proper memory handling per library documentation, and monitor for newer versions that address the parsing logic.

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
Tinyxml2Application
Affected:= 6.2.0

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:3.0/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 TinyXML2 library version
    Locate libtinyxml2.so on the system (common paths: /usr/lib/, /usr/local/lib/, or within application directories) and query its version using commands like 'strings libtinyxml2.so | grep -i version' or checking the library metadata with 'readelf -s libtinyxml2.so' for version symbols
    Affected if The library version string reports exactly 6.2.0
  2. Check application linkage to TinyXML2
    Inspect the application's dynamic dependencies using 'ldd <application_binary>' or 'readelf -d <application_binary>' to see if it links against libtinyxml2.so
    Affected if The application links to libtinyxml2 and the library version is 6.2.0
  3. Verify XML parsing code path is used
    Review application source code or runtime behavior to confirm it calls XMLDocument::Parse or related parsing functions from TinyXML2
    Affected if The application uses XMLDocument::Parse to process untrusted XML input with TinyXML2 6.2.0

You are affected if your environment contains TinyXML2 version 6.2.0 and any application or service uses its XML parsing functions to process XML content.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

The vendor attributes this to improper library usage; however, organizations should validate all XML input before parsing, ensure proper memory handling per library documentation, and monitor for newer versions that address the parsing logic.

Fix this in Tinyxml2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2018-11210 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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