RHEL 8 : libxml2 (RHSA-2026:71641)

high Nessus Plugin ID 349735

Synopsis

The remote Red Hat host is missing one or more security updates for libxml2.

Description

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 8 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the RHSA-2026:71641 advisory.

The libxml2 library is a development toolbox providing the implementation of various XML standards.

Security Fix(es):

* libxml2: libxml2: Arbitrary code execution via heap-based buffer overflow (CVE-2026-86138)

* libxml2: libxml2: Data integrity issues due to integer overflow in write callbacks (CVE-2026-86143)

* libxml2: libxml2: Arbitrary code execution via stack-based buffer overflow in xmlSnprintfElements (CVE-2026-86140)

* libxml2: libxml2: Information disclosure, SSRF, or denial of service due to improper parseFlags propagation. (CVE-2026-86144)

* libxml2: double-free/UAF in libxml2 Python bindings (CVE-2026-74860)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Red Hat Enterprise Linux security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Update the RHEL libxml2 package based on the guidance in RHSA-2026:71641.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 349735

File Name: redhat-RHSA-2026-71641.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: Red Hat Local Security Checks

Published: 9/24/2026

Updated: 9/24/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5

Percentile: 93.43

Vendor

Vendor Severity: Important

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5.3

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-86144

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 7

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8, cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_eus:8.10, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libxml2-devel, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:libxml2, p-cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:python3-libxml2

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/RedHat/release, Host/RedHat/rpm-list, Host/cpu

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 9/24/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 9/5/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-74860, CVE-2026-86138, CVE-2026-86140, CVE-2026-86143, CVE-2026-86144

CWE: 120, 190, 192, 669, 763

RHSA: 2026:71641

Detections

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