Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-56171

Memory Safety in Xmlsoft Libxml2 ≤ 2.12.10

Memory Safety
Published
18 February 2025
Modified
03 November 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.011 64th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-56171 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 36% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2024-56171 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the libxml2 library, affecting versions before 2.12.10 and 2.13.x before 2.13.6. The flaw resides in the functions xmlSchemaIDCFillNodeTables and xmlSchemaBubbleIDCNodeTables within xmlschemas.c. Exploitation occurs when processing crafted XML inputs during schema validation.

A local attacker with no privileges (PR:N) can exploit this vulnerability by supplying a crafted XML document for validation against an XML schema featuring specific identity constraints, or by providing a crafted XML schema. The attack requires high complexity (AC:H) and local access (AV:L) with no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation yields high confidentiality and integrity impacts (C:H/I:H) with no availability impact (A:N) but changed scope (S:C), as reflected in the CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8.

Advisories recommend upgrading to libxml2 2.12.10 or later in the 2.12 branch, or 2.13.6 or later in the 2.13 branch to mitigate the issue. Further technical details and discussion appear in the libxml2 GitLab issue (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libxml2/-/issues/828) and full disclosure postings (http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Apr/10, http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Apr/11, http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Apr/12, http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2025/Apr/13).

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

libxml2 before 2.12.10 and 2.13.x before 2.13.6 has a use-after-free in xmlSchemaIDCFillNodeTables and xmlSchemaBubbleIDCNodeTables in xmlschemas.c. To exploit this, a crafted XML document must be validated against an XML schema with certain identity constraints, or a crafted XML schema must…

more

be used.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2023-28319Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-4813Same product: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager
CVE-2023-3390Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-1838Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2024-1086Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2023-1989Same product: Netapp H300S
CVE-2021-22901Same product: Netapp Active Iq Unified Manager
CVE-2023-4004Same product: Netapp H300S

Affected Assets

xmlsoft
libxml2
≤ 2.12.10 · 2.13.0 — 2.13.6
netapp
hci compute node
all versions
netapp
h410c firmware
all versions
netapp
h300s firmware
all versions
netapp
h500s firmware
all versions
netapp
h700s firmware
all versions
netapp
h410s firmware
all versions
netapp
active iq unified manager
all versions
netapp
manageability software development kit
all versions
netapp
ontap
9
+1 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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
finds

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.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References