Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-45322

Memory Safety in Xmlsoft Libxml2 ≤ 2.11.5

Memory Safety
Published
06 October 2023
Modified
03 November 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 0.0083 54th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-45322 is a medium-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) 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.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

libxml2 through 2.11.5 has a use-after-free that can only occur after a certain memory allocation fails. This occurs in xmlUnlinkNode in tree.c. NOTE: the vendor's position is "I don't think these issues are critical enough to warrant a CVE ID…

more

... because an attacker typically can't control when memory allocations fail."

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-25062Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-6653Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-24855Same vendor: Xmlsoft
CVE-2024-55549Same vendor: Xmlsoft
CVE-2024-56171Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-1916Shared CWE-416
CVE-2025-1884Shared CWE-416
CVE-2024-56554Shared CWE-416
CVE-2026-9114Shared CWE-416
CVE-2023-35693Shared CWE-416

Affected Assets

xmlsoft
libxml2
≤ 2.11.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

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.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-416

Use-after-free exploits that achieve arbitrary code execution are blocked or significantly hardened by non-executable pages and ASLR.

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 directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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
detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

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

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References