Security Resilience

CVE-2023-39615

Memory Safety in Xmlsoft Libxml2 2.11.0

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
29 August 2023
Modified
03 November 2025
Patch / 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 0.0076 54th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-39615 is a medium-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Xmlsoft Libxml2 v2.11.0 was discovered to contain an out-of-bounds read via the xmlSAX2StartElement() function at /libxml2/SAX2.c. This vulnerability allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via supplying a crafted XML file. NOTE: the vendor's position is that the…

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product does not support the legacy SAX1 interface with custom callbacks; there is a crash even without crafted input.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-9714Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2024-25062Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-27113Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-6653Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-32415Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-32414Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-86140Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2023-45322Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2024-34459Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-11979Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2

Affected Assets

xmlsoft
libxml2
2.11.0

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

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.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices (secure coding guidelines, security requirements, testing including code scans and penetration tests, developer training) that reach buffer management and can stop many buffer overruns from reaching production, but leaves a bounded remainder (e.g. flaws in non-software components, incomplete enforcement of guidelines, or post-deployment changes)

blocks

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. least privilege, fail securely, distrust external input, hardening) plus design reviews that can catch and stop buffer-boundary errors before they reach code, but this is only one minority slice of CWE-119's broad surface (language-specific flaws, unsafe library use, compiler/runtime mitigations, and post-deployment instances remain outside its direct scope).

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-119, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-823.

References