CVE-2026-34601
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-34601 is a high-severity aka Blind XPath Injection (CWE-91) vulnerability in Redhat (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Content Injection (T1659); ranked at the 39th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — 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-2026-34601 affects the xmldom JavaScript module, a pure JavaScript implementation of W3C standard-based XML DOM Level 2 Core DOMParser and XMLSerializer. The vulnerability exists in xmldom versions 0.6.0 and prior, as well as @xmldom/xmldom versions prior to 0.8.12 and 0.9.9. It stems from the ability to insert attacker-controlled strings containing the CDATA terminator "]]>" into a CDATASection node, which the XMLSerializer then emits verbatim during serialization without rejection or safe splitting. This transforms intended text-only data into active XML markup, enabling XML structure injection (CWE-91).
Remote attackers require no privileges or user interaction to exploit this over the network with low complexity, as indicated by the CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N). By supplying a malicious string with the CDATA terminator, an attacker can inject arbitrary XML structures into the serialized output, potentially manipulating downstream business logic in applications that parse or process the resulting XML.
The GitHub security advisory (GHSA-wh4c-j3r5-mjhp) and related patch commits detail mitigation through upgrades: xmldom to version 0.6.0, @xmldom/xmldom to 0.8.12 or 0.9.9. Specific fixes are available in commit 2b852e836ab86dbbd6cbaf0537f584dd0b5ac184 and the corresponding release tags.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-18460
Vulnerability Data
xmldom is a pure JavaScript W3C standard-based (XML DOM Level 2 Core) `DOMParser` and `XMLSerializer` module. In xmldom versions 0.6.0 and prior and @xmldom/xmldom prior to versions 0.8.12 and 0.9.9, xmldom/xmldom allows attacker-controlled strings containing the CDATA terminator ]]> to…
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be inserted into a CDATASection node. During serialization, XMLSerializer emitted the CDATA content verbatim without rejecting or safely splitting the terminator. As a result, data intended to remain text-only became active XML markup in the serialized output, enabling XML structure injection and downstream business-logic manipulation. This issue has been patched in xmldom version 0.6.0 and @xmldom/xmldom versions 0.8.12 and 0.9.9.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation directly stops unneutralized XML metacharacters from reaching the parser.
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.
Secure SDLC directly requires input neutralization and validation that eliminates XML injection flaws.
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.
Security testing catches XML injection during development but does not itself implement the fix.
Logging can record injection attempts for detection but does not prevent the weakness.
Monitoring can detect exploitation but provides no preventive control over XML handling.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and output encoding that directly prevent XML injection.
Application security requirements explicitly call for defenses against injection flaws including XML.
Secure architecture principles reduce attack surface but do not prescribe XML-specific controls.