CVE-2018-14404: Null Pointer Dereference
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the xpath.c:xmlXPathCompOpEval() function of libxml2 through 2.9.8 when parsing an invalid XPath expression in the XPATHOPAND or XPATHOPOR case. Applications processing untrusted XSL format inputs with the use of the libxml2 library may be vulnerable to a denial of service attack due to a crash of the application.
Other sources
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the xpath.c:xmlXPathCompOpEval() function of libxml2 through 2.9.8 when parsing an invalid XPath expression in the XPATHOPAND or XPATHOPOR case. Applications processing untrusted XSL format inputs with the use of the libxml2 library may be vulnerable to a denial of service attack due to a crash of the application.
A null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the xpath.c:xmlXPathCompOpEval() function of libxml2 when parsing invalid XPath expression. Applications processing untrusted XSL format inputs with the use of libxml2 library may be vulnerable to denial of service attack due to crash of the application.
libxml2 is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a NULL pointer dereference in the xpath.c:xmlXPathCompOpEval() function. By persuading a victim to open a specially-crafted file, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause the application to crash.
— IBM
libxml2 is vulnerable to a NULL pointer dereference in the xpath.c:xmlXPathCompOpEval() function due to missing checks for NULL in XPATHOPAND and XPATHOPOR switch cases. An attacker could exploit this via crafted xpath expressions to cause a denial of service.
Reference:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=901817
— Red Hat
Affected Software
Remediation
Event History
Parent advisories
This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the CVE ID of this vulnerability?
The CVE ID of this vulnerability is CVE-2018-14404.
What is the severity of CVE-2018-14404?
The severity of CVE-2018-14404 is high with a CVSS score of 7.5.
Which software is affected by CVE-2018-14404?
The software affected by CVE-2018-14404 includes libxml2 version 2.9.8 and earlier, nokogiri version 1.8.5, and various versions of Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, IBM ISAM, and IBM Security Verify Access.
How can I fix CVE-2018-14404?
To fix CVE-2018-14404, you should update libxml2 to version 2.9.9 or later, or update the affected software or packages to the recommended versions provided by the respective vendors.
Where can I find more information about CVE-2018-14404?
More information about CVE-2018-14404 can be found on the NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), Red Hat Security Advisory, and Debian bug report websites.