dbcve.org
Use After FreeWeakness · CWE-416

CVE-2025-7425

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
83/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A flaw was found in libxslt where the attribute type, atype, flags are modified in a way that corrupts internal memory management. When XSLT functions, such as the key() process, result in tree fragments, this corruption prevents the proper cleanup of ID attributes. As a result, the system may access freed memory, causing crashes or enabling attackers to trigger heap corruption.

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

A memory corruption vulnerability in libxslt where attribute type (atype) and flags modifications corrupt internal memory management during XSLT processing. When XSLT functions like key() process tree fragments, this corruption prevents proper cleanup of ID attributes, leading to use-after-free conditions and potential heap corruption.

MitigationApply available libxslt security patches or update to a patched version to remediate the memory corruption vulnerability in XSLT processing.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/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 libxslt version
    Run 'xsltproc --version' or check the library file: 'dpkg -l libxslt1.1' (Debian), 'rpm -q libxslt' (RHEL), or 'pkg-config --modversion libxslt'
    Affected if The installed version is any version of libxslt prior to the patched release (no specific safe version range provided in CVE data)
  2. Locate libxslt shared library
    Find the library file: 'find /usr -name "libxslt*" -type f 2>/dev/null' or check '/usr/lib/libxslt.so.1' on Linux systems
    Affected if The library exists and its version cannot be confirmed as patched
  3. Check for XSLT stylesheets using key() function
    Search stylesheet files (*.xsl, *.xslt) for occurrences of the key() function: 'grep -r "key(" *.xsl *.xslt' in your stylesheet directories
    Affected if Stylesheets contain key() function calls processing tree fragments, which triggers the vulnerable code path
  4. Identify applications processing untrusted XSLT
    Review application logs and configurations for services that process XSLT stylesheets from untrusted sources, particularly those using xsltproc, PHP XSL, Python lxml, or similar libxslt-based processors
    Affected if Your application processes untrusted XSLT stylesheets that could contain malicious key() constructs
  5. Monitor for crash indicators
    Check system logs (journalctl, dmesg, /var/log/messages) for crashes or heap corruption errors related to XSLT processing: 'grep -i "xslt\|libxslt\|heap" /var/log/*'
    Affected if Crashes or memory errors occur during XSLT transformations, indicating possible exploitation

You are affected if libxslt is installed and processes XSLT stylesheets containing key() or tree fragment constructs, regardless of version, unless you have confirmed a patched version is in use.

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

Apply available libxslt security patches or update to a patched version to remediate the memory corruption vulnerability in XSLT processing.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,400
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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-2025-7425 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
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