XXE in Libexpat Project

CVE-2018-20843

In libexpat in Expat before 2.2.7, XML input including XML names that contain a large number of colons could make the XML parser consume a high amount of RAM and CPU resources while processing (enough to be usable for denial-of-service attacks).

Vulnerability class: XXE (XML External Entity)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.071 (94.0th percentile), scored .

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 94th percentile — 94.0% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2018-20843: held from 0.071 to 0.071.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.071 · newest: 0.071 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-20843?
CVE-2018-20843 is a high-severity vulnerability in Libexpat Project, classified under Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference (XXE). CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2019-06-24.
How severe is CVE-2018-20843?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2018-20843 known to be exploited?
5 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.