# CVE-2016-9598: Denial of service in n/a

> Attackers can cause application crashes via crafted XML documents in libxml2, requiring a patch to prevent denial of service.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8gff-r69h-5xgv

## What is CVE-2016-9598?

CVE-2016-9598 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2, published on 16 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

libxml2, as used in Red Hat JBoss Core Services, allows context-dependent attackers to cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds read and application crash) via a crafted XML document. NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of a missing fix for CVE-2016-4483.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-9598?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Redhat Jboss Core Services, Xmlsoft Libxml2.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-9598?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-9598 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-9598 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9598 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Xmlsoft Libxml2

- [CVE-2016-9596](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9596/): Denial of service in n/a (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-9598 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-9598 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Xmlsoft Libxml2, published on 16 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-9598 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Xmlsoft Libxml2. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9598/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9598/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-9598
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-9598
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-9598

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9598/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.