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Libexpat CVE-2026-32778

| EUVDEUVD-2026-12351 MEDIUM
NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)
2026-03-16 mitre
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Configuration Dependency management, component inventory
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

The CVSS score of 2.9 with vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L indicates low real-world urgency. The attack vector is local only, attack complexity is high, and the impact is limited to availability (denial of service via crash) with no confidentiality or integrity compromise. Exploitation requires specific preconditions: the target application must attempt XML parsing under memory pressure, experience an out-of-memory condition, and retry the operation in a way that triggers the defective setContext codepath. No known public exploits or proof-of-concept code appears to exist for this issue at the time of analysis. The lack of network attack surface, requirement for local access, and necessity for contrived memory conditions significantly reduce practical exploitation probability despite the vulnerability's technical validity. This is a defensive hardening issue rather than an active threat; prioritization should focus on managed environments where libexpat is explicitly maintained (e.g., containerized deployments, embedded systems) rather than on general enterprise risk.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker on a local system with access to a memory-constrained process (such as a containerized application or embedded service) could craft a maliciously large or deeply-nested XML document that causes the parsing engine to exhaust available memory. When the parser retries after the initial out-of-memory failure, the NULL pointer dereference in setContext is triggered, crashing the application and causing temporary denial of service. This scenario requires the attacker to have local process visibility and the ability to supply input to the XML parser, making opportunistic remote exploitation infeasible; however, in environments where user-controlled XML is processed in background tasks or batch jobs, such a condition could arise naturally or be induced by a local attacker.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 16, 2026

libexpat before version 2.7.5 contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the setContext function that occurs when the library retries operations following an out-of-memory condition. This flaw affects all users of vulnerable libexpat versions and can result in application crashes leading to denial of service. While the CVSS score of 2.9 is low and exploitation requires specific local conditions and high complexity, this vulnerability represents a stability risk for XML parsing operations in memory-constrained or stressed environments.

RemediationAI

Upgrade libexpat to version 2.7.5 or later immediately. For systems using Python, update to a version with the patched libexpat dependency; for systems using curl or Apache, patch those packages to versions incorporating the fixed libexpat library. If immediate patching is not feasible, mitigate by limiting memory-constrained execution environments, implementing resource quotas to prevent out-of-memory conditions, and monitoring application logs for XML parsing errors or unexpected crashes. Where possible, validate and pre-allocate sufficient memory before XML parsing operations. Refer to the official libexpat security advisories and release notes at https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/releases for patch verification and detailed installation instructions specific to your platform.

Affected VersionsENISA

libexpat 0 <2.7.5

Affected Packages

euvd libexpat fix: 2.7.5

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

libexpat is a widely-used C library for parsing XML documents, commonly integrated into applications, web servers, and system utilities. The vulnerability exists in the setContext function's error-handling path, specifically in CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference). The root cause stems from improper state management when memory allocation fails; the function attempts to dereference a pointer that was not properly validated or reset after an earlier out-of-memory condition, rather than gracefully handling the retry scenario. This is a memory safety issue typical in C libraries where manual memory management and explicit error handling are required. The affected CPE signature is cpe:2.3:a:libexpat:expat, with vulnerable versions spanning the entire 2.x series prior to 2.7.5.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SUSE 5.9 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Red Hat 5.1 MEDIUM

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

4
Severity Changed
Jul 14, 2026 - 13:22 NVD
LOW MEDIUM
CVSS changed
Jul 14, 2026 - 13:22 NVD
2.9 (LOW) 5.5 (MEDIUM)
Patch available
Apr 16, 2026 - 05:29 EUVD
2.7.5
CVE Published
Mar 16, 2026 - 07:02 nvd
LOW 2.9

DescriptionNVD

libexpat before 2.7.5 allows a NULL pointer dereference in the function setContext on retry after an earlier ouf-of-memory condition.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2026-32778 is a low-severity vulnerability in libexpat before 2.7.5 involving null pointer dereference (CVSS 2.9). The limited severity suggests constrained impact, typically requiring specific conditions or local access for exploitation. Apply vendor updates when available as part of routine maintenance.

Business Impact: Low
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch during routine maintenance. Standard null pointer dereference mitigations apply if patching is delayed.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 98% exploitable
Threat Intel
1
1 source
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS CISA Vendor GitHub VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available Yes
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Low

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: +10
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Related Vulnerabilities in libexpat XML Parser Vulnerabilities

View all 3
CVE-2022-25315 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Feb 18

In Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.5, there is an integer overflow in storeRawNames. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8),

CVE-2025-59375 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 15

libexpat in Expat before 2.7.2 allows attackers to trigger large dynamic memory allocations via a small document that is

CVE-2019-15903 HIGH POC
7.5 Sep 04

In libexpat before 2.2.8, crafted XML input could fool the parser into changing from DTD parsing to document parsing too

CVE-2026-115506 HIGH POC
8.7 Oct 22

CPU exhaustion in libexpat through 2.9.0 lets remote attackers stall XML parsing workloads by supplying a moderately siz

CVE-2026-93990 HIGH POC
8.7 Sep 19

Malformed UTF-16 decoding in libexpat through 2.8.4 lets remote attackers hide XML markup from the parser: a lone high s

CVE-2022-43680 HIGH POC
7.5 Oct 24

In libexpat through 2.4.9, there is a use-after free caused by overeager destruction of a shared DTD in XML_ExternalEnti

CVE-2024-28757 HIGH POC
7.5

Alpine Linux: expat fixed in 2.6.2-r0

CVE-2017-9233 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 25

XML External Entity vulnerability in libexpat 2.2.0 and earlier (Expat XML Parser Library) allows attackers to put the p

CVE-2026-45186 HIGH POC
7.5 May 10

Denial of service in libexpat before 2.8.1 lets remote attackers exhaust CPU by submitting moderately sized crafted XML

CVE-2013-0340 MEDIUM POC
6.8 Jan 21

expat before version 2.4.0 does not properly handle entities expansion unless an application developer uses the XML_SetE

CVE-2016-0718 CRITICAL
9.8 May 26

Expat allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via a m

CVE-2024-45492 CRITICAL
9.8 Aug 30

An issue was discovered in libexpat before 2.6.3. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exp

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
Container bci/bci-base-fips:15.7-18.13 Container bci/bci-init:15.7-50.21 Container bci/bci-sle15-kernel-module-devel:15.7-57.18 Container bci/gcc:14.3-20.13 Container bci/golang:1.25.8-openssl-86.14 Container bci/golang:1.25.9-2.73.18 Container bci/golang:1.26.1-openssl-86.10 Container bci/nodejs:22.22.0-21.11 Container bci/openjdk-devel:17.0.18.0-18.17 Container bci/openjdk-devel:21.0.10.0-22.22 Container bci/openjdk-devel:25.0.2.0-6.21 Container bci/openjdk:17.0.18.0-17.15 Container bci/openjdk:21.0.10.0-21.15 Container bci/openjdk:25.0.2.0-6.15 Container bci/php-apache:8.3.29-20.17 Container bci/python:3.13.13-85.11 Container bci/python:3.6.15-81.8 Container bci/ruby:2.5-23.20 Container bci/ruby:3.4-22.20 Container bci/spack:latest Container private-registry/1.2/harbor-portal:1.2.0-1.8 Container private-registry/1.2/harbor-trivy-adapter:1.2.0-1.8 Container private-registry/harbor-portal:latest Container private-registry/harbor-trivy-adapter:0.35.1-1.5 Container suse/git:latest Container suse/kea:2.6-75.11 Container suse/kiosk/firefox-esr:140.9-71.21 Container suse/kiosk/pulseaudio:17.0-69.16 Container suse/kiosk/xorg-client:latest Container suse/mariadb:11.8.6-73.16 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-httpd:5.1.3.8.18.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-salt-broker:5.1.3.9.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-squid:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-ssh:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/proxy-tftpd:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-hub-xmlrpc-api:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-migration-14-16:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server-saline:5.1.3.9.16.1 Container suse/multi-linux-manager/5.1/x86_64/server:5.1.3.8.16.1 Container suse/postgres:16.14 Container suse/postgres:17.10 Container suse/postgres:18.3-contrib-65.18 Container suse/samba-client:latest Container suse/samba-server:4.21-72.16 Container suse/samba-toolbox:latest Container third-party/nvidia/driver:550-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:550.163.01-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:570-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:570.195.03-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:570.211.01-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:575-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:575.57.08-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.105.08-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.126.09-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.126.16-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.126.20-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.82.07-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:580.95.05-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:590-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:590.48.01-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:595-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:595.45.04-sles15.7 Container third-party/nvidia/driver:595.58.03-sles15.7 Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP7-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP7-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP7-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-GCE-3P Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image pr_15_7 Image pr_15_7_1_0 Image proxy-httpd-image Image proxy-salt-broker-image Image proxy-squid-image Image proxy-ssh-image Image proxy-tftpd-image Image server-database-migration-image Image server-hub-xmlrpc-api-image Image server-image-sles15sp7 Image server-saline-image Affected
Container rancher/seedimage-builder:latest Container suse/sles/16.0/toolbox:16.3-1.42 Image SLES-Azure-3P Image SLES-Azure-Basic Image SLES-Azure-Standard Image SLES-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES-EC2 Image SLES-EC2-ECS Image SLES-GCE Image SLES-GCE-3P Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-SAP-Azure Image SLES-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-SAP-EC2 Image SLES-SAP-GCE Image SLES-SAP-GCE-3P Affected
Container suse/kiosk/xorg:21.1-77.1 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-GCE-3P Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-GCE Affected
Container suse/ltss/sle15.4/bci-base-fips:latest Container suse/ltss/sle15.6/bci-base-fips:latest Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-httpd:latest Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-salt-broker:4.3.17.9.66.5 Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-ssh:latest Container suse/manager/4.3/proxy-tftpd:4.3.17.9.66.5 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-httpd:5.0.8.7.35.3 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-salt-broker:5.0.8.7.37.3 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-ssh:5.0.8.7.35.1 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/proxy-tftpd:5.0.8.7.35.2 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server-hub-xmlrpc-api:5.0.8.6.35.1 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server-migration-14-16:5.0.8.7.35.1 Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server:5.0.8.7.44.2 Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.3:latest Container suse/sle-micro-rancher/5.4:5.4.4.5.106 Container suse/sle-micro/5.3/toolbox:16.3-6.11.222 Container suse/sle-micro/5.4/toolbox:16.3-5.19.222 Container suse/sle-micro/5.5/toolbox:16.3-3.12.133 Container suse/sle-micro/5.5:2.0.4-5.8.1 Container suse/sle-micro/base-5.5:latest Container suse/sle-micro/kvm-5.5:latest Container suse/sle-micro/rt-5.5:2.0.4-4.5.582 Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-3-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Micro-5-4-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP5-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Micro-5-5-GCE Image SLES15-SP6 Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP6-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP6-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container:2.1.3-6.156 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container:2.1.3-7.123 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container:2.1.3-6.140 Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/rt-os-container:2.1.3-7.154 Affected

Threat IntelligenceMISP

CISA Advisories
Sources: CISA (public domain)

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