Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-32414

Xmlsoft Libxml2 ≤ 2.13.8

Public PoC
Published
08 April 2025
Modified
03 November 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0036 28th percentile
Risk Priority 42 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-32414 is a medium-severity Return of Wrong Status Code (CWE-393) vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2. Its CVSS base score is 5.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 28th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In libxml2 before 2.13.8 and 2.14.x before 2.14.2, out-of-bounds memory access can occur in the Python API (Python bindings) because of an incorrect return value. This occurs in xmlPythonFileRead and xmlPythonFileReadRaw because of a difference between bytes and characters.

CWE(s)
CWE-393CWE-252

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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 →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
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

CVE-2024-34459Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-11979Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2024-25062Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2023-45322Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2023-39615Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-32415Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2026-6653Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-27113Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2025-9714Same product: Xmlsoft Libxml2
CVE-2024-55549Same vendor: Xmlsoft

Affected Assets

xmlsoft
libxml2
≤ 2.13.8 · 2.14.0 — 2.14.2

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation at post-design stages directly exercises code paths and can identify functions returning incorrect status codes.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring a documented development process and coding standards can mandate explicit checking of all function return values.

SI-6 Security and Privacy Function Verification partial match

Verification of correct security/privacy function operation will surface incorrect status codes that alter expected behavior.

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 such as code review, unit testing, and static analysis directly prevent incorrect status codes from being returned.

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 functions returning wrong status codes.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes code review and testing that can catch incorrect status codes.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include input/output validation and error handling that covers return-value checks.

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

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require robust error handling and defensive coding practices.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address proper return-value handling and error indication.

References