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Public proof of conceptFix available

CVE-2024-8176

Libexpat: expat: improper restriction of xml entity expansion depth in libexpat

A public proof of concept exists; no exploitation attested.

  • Published2025-03-14
  • WeaknessCWE-674

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A stack overflow vulnerability exists in the libexpat library due to the way it handles recursive entity expansion in XML documents. When parsing an XML document with deeply nested entity references, libexpat can be forced to recurse indefinitely, exhausting the stack space and causing a crash. This issue could lead to denial of service (DoS) or, in some cases, exploitable memory corruption, depending on the environment and library usage.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2025-03-1408:19CVE publishedCNA
  2. 2025-03-1409:15CVE publishedNVD

Versions per branch

Products declared by the CNA44 products

As redhat, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

38 more products in the CVE record.

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2026-11-05

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • coin3Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 4 other packages
  • expatWolfiall versions · fixed in 2.7.0-r0
  • expatUbuntu:Pro:20.04:LTSall versions · no fixed version listedand 3 other packages
  • expatUbuntu:25.10all versions · fixed in 2.7.1-1
  • expatUbuntu:24.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 2.6.1-2ubuntu0.3
  • expatUbuntu:22.04:LTSall versions · fixed in 2.4.7-1ubuntu0.6
  • expatTuxCare:CentOS:8.5all versions · fixed in 2.2.5-13.el8.tuxcare.els3and 2 other packages
  • expatTuxCare:CentOS:8.4all versions · fixed in 2.2.5-13.el8.tuxcare.els3and 2 other packages

141 more package ranges on OSV.dev

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2024-8176 Red Hat Product Security477 products fixed · 32 known affected

    libexpat: expat: Improper Restriction of XML Entity Expansion Depth in libexpat

    compat-expat1 as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · compat-expat1.src as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · expat as a component of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · +29 more

  • ICSA-26-279-05 CISA1 known affected

    Hitachi Energy REB500

    REB500 versions 8.3.3.1 and prior

  • ICSA-26-155-02 CISA1 product fixed · 1 known affected

    Hitachi Energy ITT600 Explorer

    ITT600 Explorer before version 2.1 SP6

  • ICSA-26-062-03 CISA5 known affected

    Hitachi Energy RTU500 Product (Update A)

    RTU500 series CMU Firmware version 12.7.1 – 12.7.7 · RTU500 series CMU Firmware version 13.5.1 – 13.5.4 · RTU500 series CMU Firmware version 13.6.1 – 13.6.2 · +2 more

  • RHSA-2025:22871 Red Hat Product Security2 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: expat security update

  • RHSA-2025:22842 Red Hat Product Security9 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: expat security update

21 more advisories

Full record on NVD

Fix

  1. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-279-05 · 1 productUpdate to version 8.3.4.0
  2. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-155-02 · 1 productUpdate to version 2.1 SP6 HF1
  3. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-155-02 · 1 productUpgrade to version 2.2 when available
  4. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-062-03 · 1 productUpdate to CMU Firmware version 12.7.8
  5. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-062-03 · 3 productsUpdate to CMU Firmware version 13.7.8 or latest
  6. Vendor fix CISA ICSA-26-062-03 · 1 productUpdate to CMU Firmware version 13.8.2

Detection

read 2026-11-01 01:02 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2025-03-14
Last Modified
2026-11-05
NVD status
Deferred
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-9hcv-xw76-m4h6

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2024-8176?

A stack overflow vulnerability exists in the libexpat library due to the way it handles recursive entity expansion in XML documents. When parsing an XML document with deeply nested entity references, libexpat can be forced to recurse indefinitely, exhausting the stack space and causing a crash. This issue could lead to denial of service (DoS) or, in some cases, exploitable memory corruption, depending on the environment and library usage.

Is CVE-2024-8176 actively exploited?

A proof-of-concept exploit exists for CVE-2024-8176, but active exploitation has not been confirmed at this time.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2024-8176?

CVE-2024-8176 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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