Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-28484

Memory Safety in Xmlsoft Libxml2 ≤ 2.10.4

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
24 April 2023
Modified
30 May 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.011 62th percentile
Risk Priority 52 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-28484 is a medium-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 38% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In libxml2 before 2.10.4, parsing of certain invalid XSD schemas can lead to a NULL pointer dereference and subsequently a segfault. This occurs in xmlSchemaFixupComplexType in xmlschemas.c.

CWE(s)
CWE-476

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impact
Adversaries may perform Endpoint Denial of Service (DoS) attacks to degrade or block the availability of services to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
attack.mitre.org →
T1489 Service Stop Impact
Adversaries may stop or disable services on a system to render those services unavailable to legitimate users.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-27113Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2023-29469Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39857Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38203Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-39920Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-23145Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38683Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38034Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-38337Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2024-36941Same product: Debian Debian Linux

Affected Assets

xmlsoft
libxml2
≤ 2.10.4
debian
debian linux
10.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.

References