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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

CVE-2026-72522: libexpat before 2.8.3 has an out-of-bounds read and resultant infinite loop because low surrogates are treated the same as high surrogates…

MediumCVSS 6.2 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 24/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.19% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: libexpat project libexpat 2.8.3; azl3 expat 2.8.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.0 2.8.3-1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to libexpat project libexpat 2.8.3; azl3 expat 2.8.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.0 2.8.3-1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

libexpat before 2.8.3 has an out-of-bounds read and resultant infinite loop because low surrogates are treated the same as high surrogates during Unicode processing in the *_toUtf16 functions.

Published
Aug 10, 2026
Updated
Nov 10, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 9th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

24

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
24 / 40 · 6.2 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · mitre
6.2
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

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  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (mitre). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • libexpat project libexpat

    • before 2.8.3affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12expatbefore 2.5.0-1+deb12u32.5.0-1+deb12u3
Debian:13expatbefore 2.8.3-1~deb13u12.8.3-1~deb13u1
Debian:14expatbefore 2.8.3-12.8.3-1
openSUSE:Leap 16.0expatbefore 2.8.4-160000.1.12.8.4-160000.1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedexpatbefore 2.8.4-1.12.8.4-1.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedpython311before 3.11.16-1.13.11.16-1.1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1expatbefore 0:2.8.3-0.1.hum10:2.8.3-0.1.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1expat-develbefore 0:2.8.3-0.1.hum10:2.8.3-0.1.hum1
Red Hat:hummingbird:1expat-staticbefore 0:2.8.3-0.1.hum10:2.8.3-0.1.hum1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2expatbefore 2.8.4-160000.1.12.8.4-160000.1.1

Same product

libexpat project: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2022-25236xmlparse.c in Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.5 allows attackers to insert namespace-separator characters into namespace URIs.
    50Plan
  • CVE-2022-23852Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.4 has a signed integer overflow in XML_GetBuffer, for configurations with a nonzero XML_CONTEXT_BYTES.
    41Plan
  • CVE-2022-22822addBinding in xmlparse.c in Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.3 has an integer overflow.
    41Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-56411Jun 21, 2026 · xmlwf in libexpat before 2.8.2 has an integer overflow in endDoctypeDecl via NOTATION declarations.
    27Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-56412Jun 21, 2026 · libexpat before 2.8.2 does not consider XML_TOK_DATA_CHARS in doCdataSection and thus lacks handler call depth tracking for various calls…
    23Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-66046Aug 18, 2026 · Expat Denial of Service via storeAtts() Quadratic Complexity
    34Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
libexpat project libexpat2.8.3Vendor (CNA)
azl3 expat 2.8.2-1 on Azure Linux 3.02.8.3-1 · CBL-Mariner ReleasesMicrosoft (MSRC)
debian:expat2.5.0-1+deb12u3 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:expat2.8.4-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
opensuse:python3113.11.16-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage registry (OSV)
red hat:expat0:2.8.3-0.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:expat-devel0:2.8.3-0.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
red hat:expat-static0:2.8.3-0.1.hum1 · Red Hat:hummingbird:1Package registry (OSV)
suse:expat2.8.4-160000.1.1 · SUSE:Linux Micro 6.2Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Not on record for this CVE: researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

References

Show all references (3 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records