Skip to main content
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Craft Boolean XPath expression
  2. Delivery
    Submit to vulnerable xpath component
  3. Exploit
    Trigger infinite loop in logicalQuery.Select
  4. Execution
    Exhaust CPU resources
  5. Impact
    Cause denial of service

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
CWE-835
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Loop termination conditions
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.

Sign in to read
Exploitation Conditions

Remote unauthenticated attacker can exploit any application using github.com/antchfx/xpath component by submitting crafted Boolean XPath expressions that evaluate to true. No special configuration or victim interaction required. Affects all default installations processing user-supplied XPath queries.
Impact

The CVSS score of 7.5 (High) reflects a network-exploitable vulnerability with low attack complexity requiring no privileges or user interaction, causing high availability impact (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H). The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit as it only requires submitting crafted XPath expressions to any exposed endpoint processing XPath queries. Given the public disclosure through GitHub issues #121 and #4526, along with the available patch commit afd4762cc342af56345a3fb4002a59281fcab494, attackers have sufficient technical details to develop exploits. The vulnerability is highly automatable since it requires only crafted input without complex preconditions. For organizations running affected Red Hat products with exposed XPath query interfaces, this represents a significant DoS risk. The availability of a patch and public disclosure elevate urgency, though the impact is limited to service availability without data compromise.
Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker identifies an application endpoint that processes XPath queries, such as a search or filtering API in Red Hat OpenShift Compliance Operator. The attacker crafts a malicious Boolean XPath expression designed to trigger the infinite loop condition and submits it via HTTP request to the exposed service. The logicalQuery.Select function enters an infinite loop, consuming 100% CPU and rendering the service unresponsive to legitimate users, achieving a sustained Denial of Service condition. Given the low attack complexity and network accessibility (AV:N), exploitation can be automated and scaled across multiple instances.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 23, 2026

The antchfx/xpath component in Debian is vulnerable to denial of service when processing specially crafted Boolean XPath expressions, which trigger an infinite loop in the logicalQuery.Select function consuming 100% CPU resources. Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit this over the network without user interaction to disable affected systems. No patch is currently available.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 23, 2026 - 14:00 CVSS 7.5

A vulnerability in the github.com/antchfx/xpath Go library allows remote attackers to trigger an infinite loop in the logicalQuery.Select function by submitting specially crafted Boolean XPath expressions that evaluate to true, resulting in 100% CPU utilization and Denial of Service. Multiple Red Hat products are affected including Compliance Operator, File Integrity Operator, Migration Toolkit for Applications 8, OpenShift Container Platform 4, and Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2. A patch is available via GitHub commit afd4762cc342af56345a3fb4002a59281fcab494, and the issue was publicly disclosed through GitHub issue #121 and tracked in golang/vulndb issue #4526.

RemediationAI

Update the github.com/antchfx/xpath library to a version containing the fix committed in https://github.com/antchfx/xpath/commit/afd4762cc342af56345a3fb4002a59281fcab494. For Red Hat product users, monitor https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-4645 for vendor-specific patches and apply updates as they become available for Compliance Operator, File Integrity Operator, Migration Toolkit for Applications 8, OpenShift Container Platform 4, Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2, and OpenShift Distributed Tracing 3. As an interim mitigation, implement input validation and sanitization for XPath expressions before processing, restrict access to XPath query interfaces to trusted sources only, and deploy rate limiting or resource constraints to prevent complete CPU exhaustion. Consider implementing application-level timeouts for XPath query execution to contain the impact of infinite loops.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

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

Sign in to check
Technical ContextAI · show details

The vulnerability exists in the github.com/antchfx/xpath library, a Go implementation for XPath query evaluation. The root cause is classified as CWE-835 (Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition / Infinite Loop) in the logicalQuery.Select function. When processing Boolean XPath expressions, the function fails to properly handle certain true-evaluating conditions, leading to an unbounded loop. Affected products include Red Hat Compliance Operator (cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:compliance_operator), Red Hat File Integrity Operator (cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:file_integrity_operator), and Red Hat Migration Toolkit for Applications 8 (cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8) across Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10, as well as OpenShift Container Platform 4, OpenShift Distributed Tracing 3, and Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 environments. The vulnerability impacts any application using this XPath library to process untrusted XPath queries.

Know when Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
Continue with Google Continue with GitHub

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SUSE HIGH

Primary rating from NVD.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch released
Mar 31, 2026 - 21:13 nvd
Patch available
CVE Published
Mar 23, 2026 - 13:35 nvd
HIGH 7.5

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in the github.com/antchfx/xpath component. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting crafted Boolean XPath expressions that evaluate to true. This can cause an infinite loop in the logicalQuery.Select function, leading to 100% CPU utilization and a Denial of Service (DoS) condition for the affected system.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A denial-of-service vulnerability in the XPath processing library affects multiple Red Hat products including OpenShift and Kubernetes environments. Attackers can crash affected services by submitting malicious XPath queries, causing service unavailability and potential business disruption for organizations running these platforms.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Until patches are available: implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block malformed XPath Boolean expressions; restrict network access to XPath processing endpoints using network segmentation and firewall rules; disable XPath query functionality if not business-critical; implement rate limiting and request validation on user-supplied XPath input; monitor CPU utilization for anomalous spikes indicating exploitation attempts.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 70% exploitable
Data Quality
8 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment 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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

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

Attack Technique

Denial of Service MEDIUM

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

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:compliance_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:compliance_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:file_integrity_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:file_integrity_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:file_integrity_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:file_integrity_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:migration_toolkit_for_applications_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_advanced_cluster_management_for_kubernetes_2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_container_platform_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_container_platform_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_container_platform_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_distributed_tracing_3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_distributed_tracing_3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 2 more

More in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10

View all
CVE-2026-18663 MEDIUM
5.9 Aug 12

Heap corruption via double-free in 389-ds-base's LDAP control parsing allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to crash
CVE-2026-4631 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Apr 07

Remote code execution in Cockpit's web interface allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the h
CVE-2026-4480 CRITICAL POC
9.0 May 26

Remote code execution in Samba's printing subsystem allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary shell commands via craft
CVE-2026-101258 HIGH POC
7.8 Oct 06

Ghostscript can execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of its process when it renders a crafted PostScript
CVE-2026-96889 HIGH POC
7.8 Sep 23

Use-after-free in librsvg during rendering of crafted SVG documents with nested XInclude directives and duplicate entity
CVE-2026-4775 HIGH POC
7.8 Mar 24

A signed integer overflow vulnerability exists in the libtiff library's putcontig8bitYCbCr44tile function that leads to

CVE-2026-114406 MEDIUM POC
6.8 Oct 21

The system CA trust store shipped in Red Hat's ca-certificates RPM packages includes eMudhra root authorities that signe
CVE-2026-18922 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 07

Authentication bypass in 389 Directory Server (shipped as Red Hat Directory Server 11-13 and within RHEL 6-10) lets remo
CVE-2026-14544 CRITICAL
9.8 Jul 03

Remote code execution and privilege escalation in HPLIP (HP Linux Imaging and Printing) affects the hpcups print filter

CVE-2026-76578 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 07

Unauthenticated privilege escalation in FreeIPA (Red Hat Identity Management) allows a remote attacker to gain genuine a
CVE-2026-102560 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 29

A heap buffer overflow exists in libsoup's WebSocket permessage-deflate compression path: when a very large outbound mes
CVE-2026-5121 HIGH
7.5 Mar 30

Remote code execution in libarchive on 32-bit systems allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code via spe

Same weakness CWE-835 – Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition (Infinite Loop)

View all
CVE-2024-20353 HIGH POC
8.6
CVE-2020-13935 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2017-16944 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2022-0778 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2024-43366 CRITICAL POC
9.1
CVE-2026-25533 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2018-8002 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2026-66730 HIGH POC
8.7

Same technique Denial Of Service

View all
CVE-2015-5119 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-2462 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-0611 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2012-1889 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2012-0507 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2014-1761 HIGH POC
7.8
CVE-2015-5122 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-0609 HIGH POC
7.8

Vendor StatusVendor

Debian

golang-github-antchfx-xpath
Release Status Fixed Version Urgency
bookworm, bullseye vulnerable 1.1.2-2 -
trixie vulnerable 1.3.3-1 -
forky, sid fixed 1.3.6-1 -
(unstable) fixed 1.3.6-1 -

SUSE

Severity: High
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 Fixed
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 16.0 Fixed

References

Advisories & patches
ADVISORY https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-4645 ADVISORY https://vuldb.com/?id.352518 REF https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-4645 REF https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2450214 REF https://github.com/antchfx/xpath/commit/afd4762cc342af56345a3fb4002a59281fcab494 REF https://github.com/antchfx/xpath/issues/121 REF https://github.com/golang/vulndb/issues/4526

Search Externally

GitHub PoC Exploit-DB PacketStorm Snyk Rapid7 Nuclei Templates Trickest PoC
Back

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy