CentOS Linux 7 [TuxCare] Security Update: libxml2 / libxml2-devel / libxml2-python / libxml2-static Multiple Vulnerabilities (CENTOS7:CLSA-2023:1696537106)

high Nessus Plugin ID 362120

Synopsis

The CentOS Linux host is missing one or more security updates.

Description

The CentOS Linux 7 host has packages installed that are affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the TuxCare CENTOS7:CLSA-2023:1696537106 advisory.

- There is a flaw in the xml entity encoding functionality of libxml2 in versions before 2.9.11. An attacker who is able to supply a crafted file to be processed by an application linked with the affected functionality of libxml2 could trigger an out-of-bounds read. The most likely impact of this flaw is to application availability, with some potential impact to confidentiality and integrity if an attacker is able to use memory information to further exploit the application. (CVE-2021-3517)

- There's a flaw in libxml2 in versions before 2.9.11. An attacker who is able to submit a crafted file to be processed by an application linked with libxml2 could trigger a use-after-free. The greatest impact from this flaw is to confidentiality, integrity, and availability. (CVE-2021-3518)

- valid.c in libxml2 before 2.9.13 has a use-after-free of ID and IDREF attributes. (CVE-2022-23308)

- An issue was discovered in libxml2 before 2.10.3. When parsing a multi-gigabyte XML document with the XML_PARSE_HUGE parser option enabled, several integer counters can overflow. This results in an attempt to access an array at a negative 2GB offset, typically leading to a segmentation fault. (CVE-2022-40303)

- An issue was discovered in libxml2 before 2.10.3. Certain invalid XML entity definitions can corrupt a hash table key, potentially leading to subsequent logic errors. In one case, a double-free can be provoked. (CVE-2022-40304)

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 affected packages based on the guidance in TuxCare advisory CENTOS7:CLSA-2023:1696537106.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 362120

File Name: tuxcare_centos_7_CLSA-2023-1696537106.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: Local

Agent: unix

Family: CentOS Local Security Checks

Published: 10/1/2026

Updated: 10/1/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Continuous Assessment, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 5

Percentile: 94.19

Vendor

Vendor Severity: Important

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.5

Temporal Score: 5.9

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-3517

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.8

Temporal Score: 7.9

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

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

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2021-3518

Vulnerability Information

Required KB Items: Host/local_checks_enabled, Host/CentOS/release, Host/CentOS/rpm-list, Host/OS/extended-third-party

Exploit Available: true

Exploit Ease: Exploits are available

Patch Publication Date: 10/5/2023

Vulnerability Publication Date: 5/18/2021

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2021-3517, CVE-2021-3518, CVE-2022-23308, CVE-2022-40303, CVE-2022-40304

CLSA: 2023:1696537106

Detections

Analytics